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PREFACE. 



The preceding volume of this series {The Boy Travellers in Northern 
Europe) left our young friends at Stockholm, engaged in giving a welcome to 
Doctor Bronson, who had just arrived from London. Having seen the Northern 
lands of Europe, it was naturally the case that Mrs. Bassett and Mary desired 
to visit the countries of the central part of the Continent ; consequently, the 
journey described in the present volume was planned and made, and we have 
sought to give a faithful account of what the tourists saw and heard during 
their wanderings. Mrs. Bassett and Mary were the constant companions of 
Frank and Fred ; the former shows that she has profited much by her ex- 
periences of foreign lands and people, and the latter makes daily demonstra- 
tion of her intelligence, careful reading, and keenness of observation to an 
extent that might justify a change of title to " The Boy and Girl Travellers 
in Central Europe." But as the planning of their routes, together with all 
the details of the journey, is left to Frank and Fred, we will adhere to the 
old name for the book. 

The scheme- that has been followed in preparing the other volumes of 
" The Boy Travellers " is continued in the present record, and the readers of 
" Central Europe " will find the same characters, and the same general form of 
talk, observation, and journal-making that they found in " Great Britain and 
Ireland" and "Northern Europe." Doctor Bronson is less conspicuous than 
before, as his professional and business engagements kept him away from the 
party for the most of the time, but he had no hesitation in trusting the details 
of the journey to Frank and Fred. The devotion of the two youths to the 
comfort and pleasure of Mrs. Bassett and Mary is worthy of the highest 
admiration, and it is not to be wondered at that mother and daughter 
thoroughly enjoyed the journey from its first day to its last. 

The author has taken the same care to insure historical and geographical 
accuracy in this account of Central Europe that he took in previous volumes 
of "The Boy Traveller" series. Should errors be found, he trusts that they 
will be attributed to the authorities consulted rather than to negligence in the 
work of consultation. Wherever discrepancies occur in the authorities the 
writer has given the preference to those of greatest weight, or to those whose 
statements seemed to be confirmed by other events. 



iv PREFACE. 

Nearly all of the routes described in this book have been personally 
travelled by the author, and some of them more than once, and nearly every 
city, town, or other place of interest which has been visited by The Boy 
Travellers in Central Europe was previously visited by him. As far as possi- 
ble he has aimed to speak from personal knowledge, but he has not hesitated to 
use the work of other travellers over the same ground, and believes that he 
has done so to the advantage of the reader. The authorities thus drawn upon, 
whether books or individuals, have been mentioned in the pages of the volume, 
and need not be repeated in the preface. Statistical information concei'ning 
populations, manufactures, commerce, military and naval forces, and the like, 
have been obtained from official sources, or, where such were lacking, from 
the most authentic of non- official publications. Dimensions of buildings, 
parks, etc., heights of mountains, and kindred measurements have been taken 
from guide-books, either general or local, and in some cases from measure- 
ments personally made by the author during his visits to the places described. 

The writer hereby tenders his acknowledgments to the courtesy of Messrs. 
Harper & Brothers for the privilege of using such of the illustrations as 
were originally prepared for other of their publications. 

With this brief explanation of the manner in which the story of the 
journey through Central Europe has been prepared, the author submits it to 
critics and readers, including alike the friends of the amiable Mrs. Bassett, 
and the school companions of Frank, Fred, and Mary, with the hope that it 
may receive the same kindly and generous greeting accorded to other 
volumes that describe the wanderings and give the observations of " The 
Boy Travellers." 

T. W. K. 

New York, July, 1892. 






^ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



From England to France. — Normandy Boats of an Ancient Type. — Approaching Havre. — 
The French Coast near the Mouth of the Seine. — Light-house at Sainte- Adresse. — 
Meeting an Ocean Steamer. — High Tide at Havre. — Entering the Port. — The Semaphore 
and Signal Station. — Full Name of the City. — In the Custom-house. — The Economical 
American, and How He Avoided the Duty on Cigars. — Cleansing Power of Tides Il- 
lustrated. — A Coachman's Attempt at Fraud. — Frascati's. — Scenes at the Bathing- 
place. — Mary Tells her Experience. — An Amusing Regulation Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

A Drive in the Suburbs of Havre. — Sainte -Adresse and the Light-house. — Villas, Gar- 
dens, and Other Suburban Attractions. — Houses of Alphonse Karr and Sara Bern- 
hardt. — Monument to General Desnouettes and its Practical Uses. — An Amusing 
Incident. — An Evening Walk along the Streets and Quays. — The Rue de Paris. — In 
the Fish- market. — The Fishing Folks of Normandy; Their Origin, Occupation, and Pe- 
culiarities. — Visit to a Fishing Village. — Interior of Fishers 1 Houses. — Musseling 
and Shrimping. — A Fish Auction. — Hauling Boats on Shore. — Harfleur and Havre 
Contrasted. — The Docks of Havre; Their Extent and Cost. — Departure of an Ocean 
Steamship.— " C. G. T." 19 

CHAPTER III. 

Complex Rules of the "C. G. T." — Tariff for Dogs, Monkeys, and Parrots. — Commerce of 
Havre. — Women Unloading Ships. — " Paul and Virginia." — Monument to its Author. — 
Ancient Houses in Havre. — John Law and the South Sea Bubble. — New Use for 
Logwood. — Why American Cider is Sent to France. — French Exploration of the New 
World. — Jacques Cartier and Other Navigators. — From Havre to Trouville. — The 
Most Fashionable of Sea-side Resorts. — The Beach and the Rules for Bathing. — 
Scenes at the Bathing Hour. — Mishap to Bathers and the Result. — The Beach at 
Low Tide. — The Casino in the Evening. — Dancing and Gaming 39 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Children's Ball at the Casino of Trouville. — Advantages of Early Training in Po- 
liteness. — Gaming at the Casino. — Courriers and Les Petits Chevaux. — Scenes in the 
Gaming-rooms. — Deauville ; Its Origin and History. — Duke de Morny. — Trouville 
Races. — Views of the Racing-grounds and Incidents of the Races. — Costumes of the 



vi CONTENTS. 

Belles. — English Visitors and their Wagers. — Pool-selling. — Visit to the Castle of 
Bonneville. — Reminiscences of William the Conqueror. — How He Invaded England. — 
Battle of Hastings and Death of Harold. — Dives and Caen. — A Norman Funeral. — 
Rouen. — The Cathedral. — Mrs. Bassett's Mistake. — Richard the Lion-hearted. — Mu- 
seum of Antiquities and What was Seen There Page 58 

CHAPTER V. 

Something about Joan of Arc ; Her Birthplace and Early Life ; The Supernatural Voices ; 
Her Visit to the Governor; Presentation to the King; She Leads the Army to Bat- 
tle ; Defeats the English ; Her Wonderful Military Career ; Personal Influence with 
Court and Army; Capture, Trial for Sorcery, Condemnation, and Death; The Place 
Where She was Burned. — From Rouen to Paris. — Chateau Gaillard and its History. 
— Henry of Navarre. — Arrival at Paris. — Reminiscence of the Doctor. — Frank's Ob- 
servations on their First Day in Paris. — The Streets and Cafes. — Cafe Tortoni. — 
Champs-Elysees, Bois de Boulogne, and Church of Notre Dame 75 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Bastile ; What Remains of It To-day ; Its History and Uses ; Capture and Destruc- 
tion. — Lettres de Cachet. — Lafayette and the Key of the Bastile. — The Louvre; 
Its History. — Catherine de Medicis and the Palace of the Tuileries ; Burning of the 
Palace in 1871. — A Chat About the Communists. — Communes of 1789 and 1871. — The 
Corps Legislatif. — Chamber of Deputies in Session. — Gambetta. — An Old Senator. — 
How the French President is Chosen. — The Vendome Column and Something About It. 
— The Fatal Photograph. — The Invalides and the Tomb of Napoleon. — A Bit of 
Moralizing 94 

CHAPTER VII. 

Visit to the Bois de Vincennes. — A Military Review. — Historic Interest of the Chateau 
of Vincennes.— The French Army ; Its Strength and Composition ; The Active Army and 
the Various Classes of Reserves ; Evolutions on the Field ; The Grand Manoeuvres ; 
How they are Conducted ; A Sham Battle ; An Impolitic General, and What Happened 
to Him. — The French Navy; The First Armored Ships of War, and Who Made Them; 
How the Navy is Manned. — Cemetery of Pere La Chaise; Tombs of Famous People; 
Story of Abelard and Heloise ; A Walk Through the Cemetery. — The Guillotine and 
its Inventor. — Prison of La Roquette. — Place de la Republique. — Market of the Temple. 
— Markets of Paris in General 112 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Les Halles Centrales, the Great Market of Paris; Its Extent and Character; How it is 
Managed ; What the Visitors Saw. — Daily Consumption of Food. — The Octroi ; Its Ori- 
gin and Uses. — The Comedie Francaise. — Buying Tickets. — Antiquity of the Theatre. — 
A Reminiscence of Louis XIV. — Organization of the Company. — Curious Customs. — " The 
Triple Knock." — A View of the Greenroom and Foyer. — The Government Subsidy. — 
"Hernani." — An American's Mistake. — General Management of the Theatre. — Famous 
French Comedians. — The New Opera-house; Mary's Account of What they Saw There. 
— A Water Circus 131 



CONTENTS. Vii 

CHAPTER IX. 

A Visit to the Salon. — Something About French Art. — Collections of the Louvre and the 
Luxembourg. — Art Students in Paris. — Schools of Art. — Minister of Fine Arts and 
His Duties. — Pictures Bought by Government. — Distinctive Characteristics of French 
Art. — Noted French Artists of To-day. — A Visit to a Famous Studio. — Ecouen, and the 
Artists There. — Edouard Frere. — School of the Legion of Honor. — Mary's Account of 
their Visit to Ecouen. — Peasant Life. — Excursions in the Country. — Education in 
France. — How the Schools are Conducted. — Religious Denominations and Their Al- 
lowances from Government. — Changes Among the Peasantry Page 150 

CHAPTER X. 

One of the "Immortals;" Mrs. Bassett's Doubts Concerning Him. — The French Academy, and 
the Institute of France ; Attending a Meeting of the Academy. — Description of the 
"Immortals." — The Illustrious Forty; Advantages of Membership and Difficulty of 
Obtaining It; How Elections are Conducted. — The Academy of Sciences. — The Famous 
Dictionary ; Twelve Hundred Years for Its Completion. — A Gathering of Distinguished 
Frenchmen. — Proceedings at a Meeting. — Place and Arch of the Carrousel. — The 
Porte Saint- Denis and Porte Saint - Martin. — A Dissertation on Triumphal Arches. — 
Visit to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile. — Reminiscences of the Siege of 18V 1 . .167 

CHAPTER XL 

The Greatest Auction-room in the World. — Visit to the Hotel Drouot. — The "Mazas." — 
Requirements of the Law Concerning Bankrupt Sales. — Court- yard of the Hotel. — The 
Auctioneers and Their Assistants. — The Crieur and His Duties. — Experts, and Some of 
their Blunders. — A Bit of Acting. — Percentages upon Sales. — Great Transactions in 
Valuable Articles. — Famous Auctions. — Amounts Realized at the Demidoff and Other 
Sales. — Hotel Figaro. — A Chat About Parisian Newspapers. — Treatment of the Press 
by Different Governments. — What the Papers Contain. — Editorial Duellists. — Duels 
in General. — French Views of Personal Combat 184 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Eiffel Tower ; Its Height and Dimensions ; Comparison with the Washington Monu- 
ment; Plans for Its Construction ; How the Cost was Defrayed; Triumph of the Rivet 
in Building; How the Ascent is Made. — Elevators of American and French Construc- 
tion. — The Traveller who Wanted to Go to " Complet." — A Mixed Assemblage. — Scenes 
on the Different Platforms. — Dinner in a High Place. — View from the Upper Story. 
— Effect of Wind and Rain. — Paris at Night from the Tower. — An Experience in So- 
ciety. — The Salons of Paris and Their Peculiarities. — Madame Edmond Adam and Her 
Receptions. — Anecdote of Gambetta. — Juliette Lamber 203 

CHAPTER XIII. 

An Evening Reception. — Jules Simon and Other Men of Note. — Conversation at the Salon. 
— Some Famous Salons. — Dr. Evans and His House. — Reminiscences of the Empress Eu- 
genie ; Her Escape from Paris. — A Chat About the Empire and the Napoleonic Family. 
— A Short History op the Coup-d'Etat; How the Plans were Laid and Carried Out. 



viii CONTENTS. 

— Victor Hugo and Other Exiles. — In the Great Shops. — Mart's Account of Shopping. 
— A Dissertation on Fans. — How a Fraud was Detected. — Evolution op the Bonnet. — 
Fashions in Different Years. — Birds in the Gardens. — The "Bird Charmer" . Page 222 

CHAPTER XIV. 

From Paris to Dijon. — A Misunderstanding. — Railway Travel in France. — Arrangements for 
Dining. — Dinner on the Train. — Dijon; Its Inticresting Features. — The Burgundy Dis- 
trict. — Roman Antiquities. — A Kitchen of the Middle Ages. — Lyons. — The Silk-weaving 
Industry. — Jacquard and His Invention. — Heights of Fourvieres. — View of the Rhone 
and Saone. — Children's Savings-banks. — Sights of Lyons. — Visit to a Silk Establish- 
ment. — Castles of the Rhone. — Steamer versus Railway. — Aix-les-Bains ; What Our 
Friends Saw There. — Gorge of the Rhone, and Mary's Thoughts Thereon. — Arrival at 
Geneva 241 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Land of William Tell. — Is the Story of Tell a Myth ? — John Calvin and His Work ; 
Short Sketch of His Life. — View of Mont Blanc ; Height of the Famous Mountain. — St. 
Peter's Church. — Pulpit Where Calvin and Knox Preached. — Calvin's Chair. — Servetus 
Burned at the Stake. — The Eagles of Geneva. — The Rhone Laundry. — Fountain of the Es" 
calade and its origin. how the duke of savoy was defeated. swiss thrift and econo- 
MIES. — New Way of Making a Hotel Bill. — Rousseau's Island. — Jean Jacques Rousseau. 
— Feeding the Swans. — Watch-making at Geneva. — Machine versus Hand Labor . . 258 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Canton of Geneva; Sketch of Its History; Noted Persons Who Have Found Refuge 
at Geneva ; Population, Religion, and Government. — Government of the Swiss Republic. 
— The Army and Navy. — A Swiss Admiral. — Houses of Parliament, and Their Rela- 
tions to Each Other. — Neutrality of Switzerland. — Russian Nihilists. — Drives Around 
Geneva. — Ferney and Voltaire. — Relics of the Great Philosopher. — Anecdotes of Vol- 
taire's Life. — Lake Leman. — The Steamer Bonnivard. — The Prisoner of Chillon. — Voy- 
age Along the Lake. — Reminiscences of Byron and Gibbon. — Ouchy and Lausanne . 276 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Vevay. — Graves of the Regicides. — Scenes in the Market. — Mary's New Hat. — Wine-making 
in Canton Vaud. — Gathering the Grapes. — Wine-pressing. — The Great Tun. — Ceremo. 
nial Festival in Good Seasons. — Selection of Bacchus. — Hauteville and Blonay. — 
Castles for Rent. — Ghosts Free of Charge. — -Legends of the Castle. — How a Lover 
Won a Bride. — History of Canton Vaud. — Louis Agassiz. — Excursion to Chillon. — 
Poetical Recitations. — The Poet's License. — Clarens and Montreux. — Facts Concerning 
Bonnivard and His Family. — The Dungeon of Seven Pillars 294 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Castle of Chillon; Its Antiquity. — The Lake-dwellers of Switzerland; Who They 
Were and How They Lived. — Louis le Debonair. — The Counts of Savoy. — Siege of the 
Castle. — Illustrious Prisoners of Different Times. — Hall of the Knights. — William 



CONTENTS. ix 

bolomier. bonnivard. instruments op torture. the path worn by bonnivard's feet ; 

Inspection of His Dungeon. — The Little Isle. — Villeneuve ; Sights to be Seen There. — 
Sheep, Goats, and Cows. — Mountain Pastures. — Fountains of Villeneute. — Washing in 
the Lake. — A Bide by Railway. — Valley of the Rhone. — Martigny. — The Landlord's 
Philosophy . , Page 313 

CHAPTER XIX. 

From Martigny to Chamouni. — How They "Change Horses" in Switzerland. — Pass of the 
Great Saint-Bernard. — Who was St. Bernard? — Life at the Hospice in the Pass. — 
Dogs of the Saint-Bernard. — Origin of the Stock. — How the Hospice is Maintained. — 
A Mean Streak of Human Nature. — How Our Friends Travelled by Wagon. — The 
Driver's Trick. — Tete Noir Hotel. — Chamouni. — Studying Mont Blanc. — Monument to 
Jacques Balmat. — Difficulties and Dangers of the Ascent of Mont Blanc. — Ca- 
tastrophe to a Party Caught in a Storm. — Dr. Beane's Note-book. — Guides Thrown 
into a Crevasse. — Montanvert and the Mer de Glace. — Mary's Account of the Ex- 
cursion Thither 333 

CHAPTER XX. 

Souvenirs of Switzerland. — Wood-carvings and Alpenstocks. — Interesting Souvenir of Trav- 
els that Were Not Made. — Excursion to the Flegere. — Chamouni to Geneva and 
Berne. — The Swiss Capital. — Haunt of the Bears. — The Cathedral and Its Terrace. — 
View of the Mountains of the Bernese Oberland. — The "After-glow." — Curious Fount- 
ains. — Procession of the Bears. — Visit to the Bear-pits; How the Animals are Fed. — 
The Chamois, and How He is Hunted. — Burgdorf and Pestalozzi. — Bale. — On the Banks 
of the Rhine. — Cathedral and Museum. — Hans Holbein 351 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Meeting Old Friends. — The Chapman Family. — Excursion to the Falls of the Rhine. — 
A Division into Two Parties. — What Frank and Fred Saw. — Lake Constance. — Sum- 
mer Homes of Noted Persons. — Queen Hortense. — An Unhappy Life. — Martyrdom of 
John Huss. — The Great Council and Its Hall. — Ragatz and Pfaffers. — In a Hot Cav- i 
ern. — The Wallensee. — Zurich. — Sight-seeing and Dress-making. — Up the Rigi. — Mary's 
Account of What They Saw There. — The Rigi Railway. — Ascent by Cog-wheels. — 
Sunrise on the Rigi. — The Alpine Horn. — General View from the Summit. — Lake of 
the Four Cantons. — Lucerne 369 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Scenery of Lake Lucerne. — William Tell. — Springs of the Rutli. — Tell's Chapel. — Doubts 
Concerning the Tell Traditions. — The Axenstrasse. — Saint Gothard Railway and Tun- 
nel. — A Spiral Railway. — How the Saint Gothard Tunnel was Built. — Machine-drills 
and their Work. — Exactness of Engineering. — How the Two Ends of the Tunnel Met 
in the Mountain. — Certain Terms Explained. — Inspecting the Tunnel. — Air-locomotives, 
and How They are Made. — Longest Tunnels in the World. — A Telegram from Doctor 
Bronson. — The Arlberg Tunnel. — From Lucerne to Innsbruck. — The Engadine Valley. — 
Arrival at Innsbruck 386 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Innsbruck and Its Situation. — The Mountains and the Valley op the Inn. — Goldenes Dachl. 
— Count Frederick of Tyrol ; His Empty Pockets. — Maximilian I., and the Remarkable 
Monument to His Memory. — Bronze Statues. — A Scrap of History. — Andreas Hofer, 
and What He Did. — Tvrolese Patriots. — Ferdinand II. — The Castle of Amras. — Tyrol- 
ese Paintings. — Defregger and His Work. — Wrestling and Finger-hacking. — Native Cos- 
tumes. — Bride from the Grodner Thal. — Grodner Thal and Its Industries. — Difficulties of 
Farming. — Wood-carting. — Zither-playing. — The Brenner Pass and Railway . Page 404 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

From Innsbruck to Botzen. — The Inn and the Sill. — The Valley that Leads to the Summit. — 
"The Two Streams." — Alpine Railway Construction. — Tunnels Along the Route. — Novel 
Suggestion for Utilizing Tunnels. — Frank's Little Story. — Mrs. Bassett's Doubts. — Bot- 
zen and Its Peculiarities. — A Region of Castles. — Schloss Tyrol. — Meran. — From Botzen 
to Munich. — A Chat About Austria. — The Government and People. — Composition of the 
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. — Emperor and King. — How the Union was Brought About. 
— Parliaments, Army and Navy, and Other Matters. — A Little War of Words . 423 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Art Treasures of Munich. — Public Buildings Devoted to Art. — "The Destruction of Jeru- 
salem," and Other Famous Pictures. — Kaulbach, Piloty, and Other Artists of the Mu- 
nich School. — Piloty and the King. — The Royal Blunder, and What Came of It. — 
Gabriel Max, and " The Lion's Bride." — Hans Makart ; His Style of Work. — Academy 
of Fine Arts. — Art Students in Munich ; Their Number, and How They Live. — The Car- 
nival Ball. — Students with Fortunes. — Statue of " Bavaria," and the Hall of Fame. — 
The Frauenkirche and Its Monuments. — The National Museum and Its Contents. — Ba- 
varia, and Its Relations to the German Empire. — Army, Religion, Schools, etc. — Indus- 
tries of Munich. — A Beer-cellar with a History 441 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

From Munich to Salzburg. — Short Historical Note. — The Birthplace of Mozart; Anecdotes 
of the Great Composer; The Mozart Museum; The Musician's First Performances; His 
Requiem Mass. — The Monchsberg and Kapuzinerberg. — Fortress of Hohen-Salzburg. — 
Excursion to Berchtesgaden and the Konigs-See. — A Ride on the Lake. — The Famous 
Echo. — A Breakfast upon Trout from the Lake. — Fish Stories. — Visit to the Salt-mines. 
— Our Friends in Mining Costume. — Down "The Slides." — Pools in the Mountain. — A 
Walk Through the Galleries. — Riding on the Tramway. — A Subterranean Illumination. 
— Reichenhall and Its " Cures." — The Gaisberg and Hellbrunn 459 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

From Salzburg to Linz. — Down the Danube. — Navigation on the "Beautiful Blue" River. 
— Poetic License. — Castles, and Traditions About Them. — The Abbey of Melk. — A Ger- 
man Joke. — Arrival at Vienna; First View of the City. — The Ringstrasse; How It 
Originated. — The Rings of Vienna. — St. Stephen's Church. — Antiquity of Vienna. — The 



CONTENTS. xi 

VlNDOBONA OP THE ROMANS. HOUSE OF HaPSBURG-LORRAINE. — AN UNBROKEN LlNE OF SlX 

Centuries. — In a Cafe-restaurant. — Viennese Customs. — Perplexities for Strangers. — 
Doctor Bronson's Story of 1873. — The Zahl-kellner and His Duties. — Honesty of the 
Viennese. — Shopping on the Graben. — Russia-leather Goods Page 476 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

In the Kohlmarkt. — Hofburg. — Amalienhof. — Rittersaal. — The Imperial Library, and 
What was Seen There. — The Treasury. — The Florentine Diamond and Its History. — 
Charlemagne's Imperial Regalia. — The Golden Fleece. — Burg Theatre. — Terrible Dis- 
aster at the Ring Theatre. — A Drive to the Prater. — In the Great Park of Vienna. 
— Antiquity of the Prater; Its History for 800 Years. — Haupt-Allee and Nobel- 
prater. — An Aristocratic Resort. — Constantine Hill. — A View of the Emperor. — Chat 
About the Imperial Family. — The Wurstel-prater. — Popular Amusements. — Votive 
Church. — The Empress 493 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Imperial Opera-house, Vienna; Exterior and Interior of the Building; The Audience and 
the Performance ; Statuary and Decorations ; Madame Materna ; Rules of the Manage- 
ment ; Feminine Orchestras ; Mrs. Bassett's Views Concerning Them. — The University of 
Vienna. — " The Lines." — Siege of Vienna by the Turks. — Scraps of History. — Extension 
of Modern Vienna. — A Baker's Discovery. — The Kahlenberg. — From Vienna to Buda- 
Pesth by River. — Presburg and Komorn. — Buda-Pesth. — The Twin Cities, and How They 
Were United. — Royal Palace, and Other Buildings. — Hot Springs and Baths. — Margaret 
Island. — The Opera. — Hungarian Dishes, Dances, and Nobility. — The End .... 512 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Norman Fishing and Market Boat 1 

On the Normandy Coast 3 

Yachting in the Channel 5 

The Captain's Post on the Bridge 6 

The Entrance-port of Havre 7 

Along the Rocks and Sands 9 

An Economical Arrangement 11 

On the Beach at Frascati's 13 

A Hard Road to Travel 14 

In the Hands of a Baigneur 15 

In the Cafe 17 

A Twilight Effect 19 

Votive Offering at the Church 21 

Light-houses Near Havre 22 

In the Fields Near the City 23 

Waiting for the Tide 25 

Fisherwomen 2V 

Return of the Mussel-gatherers 29 

A Shrimper 31 

Watching for the Boat 33 

A Norman Interior 35 

In the Harbor 36 

A Captain of the " C. G. T." 38 

A Passenger for Fifty Francs 39 

Men and Women Unloading a Steamer .... 41 

Travel by Water — Old Ways and New .... 43 

Caricature of John Law — Amsterdam, 1720 45 

Mending Nets at Low Tide 47 

Landing of a French Expedition in the New 

World. (From an old print.) 48 

Jacques Cartier 49 

On the Lookout at Trouville 50 

The Bathing Hour 53 

Amateur Shrimpers 54 

The Promenade 56 

Sunday Morning in Normandy 57 

The Windlass 58 



PAGE 

Table of the " Courriers " 60 

At the Races of Trouville 62 

Costumes of the Natives <,„..... 64 

Ready for the Race a ....... . 65 

Ships of the Time of William the Conqueror 67 

A Fisherman of Cobourg 69 

The Castle of Rouen in the Fifteenth Cen- 
tury 71 

Effigy of Richard the Lion-hearted 72 

A Funeral in Normandy 73 

Credence of Jeanne Dare's Time. . 75 

Jeanne Dare Hearing " the Voices " 77 

Jeanne Dare. (Statue by M. Chapu.) 78 

Joan of Arc in Battle 79 

Chateau Gaillard 80 

Castle Chamber of Fifteenth Century 81 

Medal of the Duke of Sully 82 

Chateau of Henry IV 83 

Cafe Tortoni, Paris 85 

An Old Customer 86 

Cabaret Du Chat Noir 89 

Riding for His Health 91 

Part of Ancient Church Window, Paris. ... 93 

Key of the Bastile 94 

The Bastile. (From an old print.) 95 

Destruction of the Bastile. (From an old 

print.) 97 

The Louvre of the Time of Charles V 99 

Marquis de Lafayette 100 

Meeting-place of the Chamber of Deputies. . 102 
M. Gambetta Presiding Over the Chamber of 

Deputies 104 

The Palace of Luxembourg 105 

Vendome Column in 1840. (From an old 

print.) 107 

Medal Commemorating Alliance of France 
and the United States .... 109 



XIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGK 

Napoleon as First Consul 110 

Medal of Napoleon, as King of Italy Ill 

The Bugle Call 112 

Marching in the Rain 114 

The Company Kitchen. 115 

The Scout 11*7 

The " Billet de Logement " 119 

The Patrol 120 

The Attack 121 

The "Devastation." (French armored ship 

of the first class.) 123 

French Iron-clad Ship in Dock 125 

Funeral Procession in Paris.. 12*7 

Eugene Scribe 128 

The Temple. (From an old print). 130 

Ticket-office of the Comedie Francaise 131 

Exterior of the Comedie Francaise 133 

Vestibule of the Theatre 135 

Waiting for Her Cue 137 

Dressing-room of an Actress 138 

The Greenroom 139 

Stage-manager Making the " Three Knocks" 141 

Hat and Cloak Room 142 

Mounet-Sully as Hernani 143 

F. Lemaitre as Robert Macaire 144 

Staircase of the New Opera-house 146 

Ceiling of Auditorium — New Opera-house . . 148 

Jean Louis Meissonier 150 

" The Advance Guard." (A. deNeuville.). . 151 

" Expectation." (Toulmouche.) 153 

"Return of the Flock." (Jacques.) 155 

" The Vedette." (Meissonier.) 15*7 

Rosa Bonheur 158 

" Ploughing in Nivernais." (Rosa Bonheur.) 159 

Chateau of Ecouen 160 

Chialiva's Studio, Ecouen 161 

Street in Ecouen 163 

Gleaners in the Fields 164 

Gossip on the Road 166 

Voting at the Institute of France 16*7 

Hats of the French Academy 169 

Dr. Charcot 170 

A Lecture .at the Academy of Sciences 171 

Arrival of Vice-admiral Paris . 173 

A Distinguished Member 174 

M. Faye, Astronomer 176 

Arc du Carrousel 178 

On the Boulevard 180 



PAGE 

Arc de l'Etoile 182 

" The Retreat." (Edouard Detaille.) 183 

M. Chevalier, Auctioneer 184 

An Expert in Old Coins 186 

A Sale in the Court-yard 187 

A Private View 189 

Daire, the Master Crier 191 

A Regular Visitor 192 

A Sale in the " Mazas " 193 

An Amateur 194 

Waiting for Business 195 

Editorial Breakfast at the Restaurant Du 

Chat Noir 197 

A Buyer of Old Books , 198 

A Serious Duel 200 

Souvenirs of the Tower 203 

Taking the Elevator 204 

On the Summit 206 

Writing Letters 208 

Chief of the Guards 210 

A Full Window 211 

Paris from the Fourth Floor 212 

The Tower by Night 214 

The Salon of the Countess dAgoult.. ..... 215 

Gambetta's First Appearance at Madame 

Adam's Salon 217 

Madame Edmond Adam (Juliette Lamber). . 219 

Jules Simon 222 

A Corner in a Salon 224 

Eugenie, ex-Empress of France 227 

Police Clearing the Boulevards at Night . . . 228 

The Late Prince Imperial, Napoleon IV. . . . 229 

Victor Hugo and His Grandchildren 230 

Fan in Time of Louis XIV 232 

Fan of Louis XV. Period 233 

Bridal Fan by Watteau. (1709.) 234 

An Autograph Fan 235 

Bonnet of 1787 236 

1795 237 

1803 237 

1820 238 

1856 238 

1864 238 

1877 239 

1881 239 

A Pair of French Sparrows 240 

Statue of Moses, Dijon 241 

Statue of Jeremiah 242 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XV 



PAGE 

Our Motive Power 244 

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy 245 

Ancient Lace in the Museum 246 

A Narrow Street 247 

Lyons 248 

Moonlight Scene Near Lyons 249 

Castle on the Rhone, near Valence 251 

Amphitheatre at Nimes 253 

Roman Baths at Nimes 255 

Woman of Aries 256 

Colosseum at Aries 257 

John Calvin 258 

Old Geneva, Rousseau's Isle, and Mout 

Blanc Bridge 260 

Interior of St. Peter's Cathedral 262 

Geneva — New City and Bridge of Mont Blanc 264 

Eagles of Geneva 266 

Fountain of the Escalade. 267 

A Street Porter 268 

Trying for a Fee 269 

Jean Jacques Rousseau 271 

Tower of Caesar, and the Laundresses 273 

Skull Watch of Mary Stuart 275 

Lateen Rig 276 

View in Old Geneva 278 

Open-air Parliament in Switzerland 279 

A Nihilist Family at Home 281 

Voltaire 283 

Voltaire's House at Ferney , 285 

Church Built by Voltaire 287 

Steamboat on Lake Leman 288 

Bonnivard 289 

Byron's Villa, Deodati 290 

Madame de Stael 291 

Lausanne 292 

Villa of the Empress Josephine 293 

Swiss Railway Servant 294 

Market-place at Vevay 296 

Gathering Grapes near Vevay 297 

The Wine-press 299 

Eating Grapes 301 

Summer Visitors at Montreux 303 

A Group of Vaudois 305 

Louis Agassiz 307 

A Field Near Clarens 309 

The Castle of Chiilon 310 

Bonnivard's Dungeon 311 

Castle of Chiilon, Land Side 312 



PAGE 

Moat Tower of Chiilon 313 

Vernex and Montreux 315 

A Fountain at Villeneuve 316 

The Prisoner of Chiilon 319 

Washing Clothes in the Lake 322 

Cattle at the Fountain 324 

Post-office, Villeneuve 325 

Flirtation by the Water 327 

Outside of Villeneuve 328 

Archway and Sheep 329 

Valley Scene 330 

Church Terrace, Montreux 332 

"Alpenstock" *. 333 

Mountain and Valley 334 

Saint-Bernard Dog 336 

Swiss Mountain Road 338 

Rock of the Grands Mulets 340 

Mountains of Europe 341 

Mont Blanc from the Mer de Glace 343 

Mont Blanc and Its Neighbors 345 

Falling into a Crevasse 347 

A Difficult Road 348 

Alpine Roses 350 

A Mountain Climber 351 

The Edelweiss 353 

A Swiss Village 354* 

An Arcade in Berne 356 

Fountain of the Ogre 357 

Bear-pits at Berne 360 

Scene in a Bernese Cafe , 361 

Animals of the Alps 362 

The Chamois 363 

Swiss Farm-house 365 

Crossing the Rhine by Moonlight 366 

" Nathan Rebuking David." (Holbein.) ... 368 

Carving in Cathedral, Bale 369 

Schaffhausen 370 

Arenenberg 372 

Castle of Mainau, Lake Constance 374 

Summer Residence of German Emperor. ... 375 

Village of Pfaffers, near Ragatz 376 

The Wallen-See 378 

Cloister of Zurich Cathedral 380 

Mount Washington Railway — Parent of the 

Rigi Line 383 

Mountain and Valley 384 

Drilling Machine 386 

Village Scene , . . . s 388 



XVI 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

The Axenstrasse 389 

Saint Gothard Pass 391 

Air-compressor 392 

A Street in Airolo 393 

Air-locomotive 395 

Cross-section of Gallery 396 

Longitudinal Section of Gallery 397 

Section of Tunnel 398 

Bellinzona, on the Saint Gothard Route. . . . 399 

Tyrolese Peasant Girl 401 

A Valley in the Tyrol 403 

Goldenes Dachl 404 

Maria Theresa Sfarasse, Innsbruck 405 

King Arthur 407 

Andreas Hofer 409 

Franz Defregger 410 

Philippine Weiser, Countess of Tyrol 411 

"Wrestling." (From a painting by Defregger.) 412 
"Finger-hacking." (From a painting by De- 
fregger.) , 413 

A Grodner Thai Bride 414 

A Wood-carver 415 

A Mountain Porter 417 

Tyrolese Zither-players 418 

Saint Ulrich, Grodner Thai 420 

Profile of the Brenner Railway 421 

The Lang Kofel, Tyrolean Alps 422 

Vineyard Watch, South Tyrol 423 

A Glacier in the Tyrol 425 

Village in the Mountains 427 

Parish Church, Botzen 429 

Meran . 431 

Schloss Tyrol 433 

Costume of Sarn Thai, Tyrol 435 

Tyrolese Girl Spinning 436 

Mountain Pasture, Tyrol 437 

Farm-house, South Tyrol 438 

Mountain and Lake, South Tyrol 440 

Wilhelm von Kaulbach 441 

The " Bush-ranger." (F. Dietz.) 443 

Karl Theodor Piloty 444 

" The Lion's Bride." (By Max.) 446 

Gabriel Max 447 

Hans Makart 448 

" Fellah Women at the Fountain." (Makart.) 449 

Part of Tomb of Louis the Bavarian 451 

Ancient Wood-carving in Munich Museum . 452 
Brooch of the Eighth Century 453 



PAGE 

Missal of Henry II 454 

Antique Chest and Pottery 456 

A Fermenting Cellar 457 

Costumes of the Salt-mine 459 

Cloister of the Nonnberg 461 

Johannes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 463 

Antique German Stove 464 

The Watzmann, Overlooking Berchtesgaden 466 

Boat-landing, Konigs-See. 468 

Konigs-See 470 

Lake in Salt-mine, Berchtesgaden 472 

Costumes of the Ziller Thai, Tyrol 474 

Dining-room in the Castle 475 

Cursalon in the Stadtpark, Vienna 476 

Plan of the Ringstrasse 478 

Schwarzenbergplatz, Vienna 480 

A Party at Table 482 

Viennese Waiters 484 

In the Stadtpark 485 

Rathhaus (Town-hall) 487 

Cafe Concert, Vienna 489 

Radetzky Bridge and Franz Josef Barracks. 491 

The Imperial Museums 493 

Elizabeth Bridge and Karnthnerstrasse. . . . 495 

The Florentine Diamond 496 

The " Argo " 498 

Hofburg Theatre 499 

Viennese Fiacre 501 

Promenade in the Prater 503 

Francis Joseph II., Emperor of Austria. . . . 505 

Shows in the Wurstel-Prater 507 

The Vienna Stock-exchange 508 

The Votive Church 509 

Type of Viennoise 511 

A Lady Orchestra 512 

The Imperial Opera-house 513 

Elizabeth, Empress of Austria 515 

Madame Friedrich Materna 517 

The New University 519 

The Parliament House 521 

The Kahlenberg 523 

Budapest. (View from left bank of the 

Danube.) 525 

Gypsy Violinists 526 

Type of Hongroise 527 

A Hungarian Magnate 528 

Promenade on Margaret Island 529 

Dancing the " Czardas " 531 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS 



IN 



CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE I. 



FROM ENGLAND TO FRANCE. — NORMANDY BOATS OF AN ANCIENT TYPE. — AP- 
PROACHING HAVRE.— THE FRENCH COAST NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE SEINE.— 
LIGHT-HOUSE AT SAINTE-ADRESSE.— MEETING AN OCEAN STEAMER.— HIGH TIDE 
AT HAVRE.— ENTERING THE PORT.— THE SEMAPHORE AND SIGNAL STATION- 
FULL NAME OF THE CITY.— IN THE CUSTOM-HOUSE.— THE ECONOMICAL AMERI- 
CAN, AND HOW HE AVOIDED THE DUTY ON CIGARS.— CLEANSING POWER OF 
TIDES ILLUSTRATED. — A COACHMAN'S ATTEMPT AT FRAUD.— FRASCATI'S.— 
SCENES AT THE BATHING-PLACE.— MARY TELLS HER EXPERIENCE.— AN AMUS- 
ING REGULATION. 



w 




HAT an old-fashioned 
boat !" 

" Yes," was the reply ; " old 
enough to deserve our respect." 

" What is it ?" 

"It's a fishing and market 
boat from Normandy," said Doc- 
tor Bronson. " The form of this 
vessel is very much what it 
was in the twelfth century, and 
the rig has changed very little. 
These boats are built for rough 
weather rather than for light 
breezes ; a modern yacht would 

sail away from her very rapidly, but the sailors on this clumsy-looking 
craft would not hesitate to go out in a high wind when the ordinary 
yachtsman would prefer to stay in port." 



NORMAN FISHING AND MARKET BOAT. 



2 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" I think I saw two or three of these boats at Southampton, but sup- 
posed they were English," Frank remarked. 

" They probably came from Dieppe, or some other port of Nor- 
mandy," the Doctor answered. " These boats bring vegetables and 
other produce from the French coast for the English market. Some of 
them are engaged in fishing, but it is proper to say that the number of 
these craft is steadily diminishing year by year." 

" Why is that ?" 

" Because of the large number of men required to handle them in 
proportion to the size of the vessel. That boat you are looking at is 
about a hundred tons in measurement, and requires ten or twelve men 
to handle her properly ; six or eight men can manage a craft of the 
same tonnage with a more modern rig ; and slow as these people are to 
change their customs, they are forced to do so in order to save money." 

This conversation occurred on the deck of a steamer which was 
crossing the English Channel from Southampton to Havre. Many of 
our readers will recognize the names of Doctor Bronson, and that of his 
nephew, Frank Bassett, whose adventures have been recorded in pre- 
vious volumes of the " Boy Travellers Series." * 

Fred Bronson joined his uncle and cousin while they were discussing 
the peculiarities of the boats that navigate the channel, and a few min- 
utes later Mrs. Bassett and Mary made their appearance. There were 
the usual morning greetings, and then all eyes were turned to the scene 
that was presented before them. 

The French coast was in full view, Havre being not more than fif- 
teen miles away, and distinguishable through a glass by the forest of 
masts that rose from its harbor, and also by the cloud of smoke about 
the city. All around were boats of various kinds, the nearest of them 
being the one just under consideration. Mary undertook to count the 
sails in sight, but soon gave up the effort, as she was more interested in 
the picturesqueness of the coast than in knowing the exact number of 
craft in the range of her vision. A dozen or more steamers were vis- 
ible, though some of them were so far away that their character was 
discernible only by the columns of smoke pouring from their funnels 
and stretching out behind them. There was only a light breeze blow- 

* The Boy Travellers in the Far East (five volumes), and The Boy Travellers in Soiith 
America, The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire, The Boy Travellers on the Congo, The 
Boy Travellers in Australasia, The Boy Travellers in Mexico, The Boy Travellers in Great 
Britain and Ireland, and The Boy Travellers in Northern Europe (seven volumes). See 
complete list at the end of this book. 



OFF THE FRENCH COAST. 3 

ing, and. every sailing craft on the waters had all its canvas spread to 
catch it. Mrs. Bassett called attention to the colors of the sails, which 
were not as universally white as those which one sees in the harbor of 
New York ; there were two or three varieties of browns among them, 
and a few were of a reddish tint that seemed to vie with the beams of 
the rising sun, just visible in the East. 

Doctor Bronson explained that the browns and reds were not attrib- 
utable to the age of the sails, but to the color of the material out of 




ON THE NORMANDY COAST. 



which they were made. " You know," said he, " that many house- 
keepers prefer unbleached linen to that which has been bleached, on 
account of its superior strength ; for the same reason, the mariners on 
this part of the coast of the French republic are less partial to snow- 
white sails than those of our own land." 

" Look ! look !" exclaimed Mary, who had been directing her glass 
towards Havre. " There's a great steamer coming out from the port ; 
it must be one of the big ships that run to New York." 

She handed the glass to her mother, who gave it to Doctor Bron- 
son, with the remark that he had the best eyesight for steamers. A 
moment's glance satisfied him, and he returned the glass to the girl. 



4 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Yes, you are right," he said, addressing Mary. " That is one of 
the steamers of the ' Compagnie Generale Transatlantique,' which is best 
known in New York as the French Mail. They run weekly each way, 
and have a large subsidy from the French Government for their service." 

" The steamer that's coming out towards us," said Mary, " looks like 
a very large one ; seems to me it's like the City of Paris that we came 
on from New York to Liverpool." 

" It is probably one of the company's newest vessels," was the reply, 
"and if so, it is in every way equal to any of its English or German 
competitors. The French line is popular with a great many Americans, 
and especially with those who do not care to pass through England in 
their journeys between New York and the Continent." 

As the Doctor paused, Mary asked what were the hills to the left of 
Havre and nearly behind it. 

" Behind the city," said Doctor Bronson, " are the heights of Ingou- 
ville, while the hills to the left are in the suburb of Sainte-Adresse. Do 
you see the light-house which stands on the edge of the cliff at Sainte- 
Adresse as if ready to fall over?" 

" Oh yes, I can see it distinctly," Mary answered ; " and there are 
some pretty villas not far from it and all along the range of hills." 

It is a very pretty view which is presented to the traveller who ap- 
proaches Havre from the sea. So charming is it that a poet and drama- 
tist, Casimir Delavigne, said that, after Constantinople, he had never seen 
anything so beautiful. Havre nestles in a cleft in the hills on the northern 
bank of the Seine, which widens into a bay as it nears the sea. Looking 
across the mouth of the famous river, as Doctor Bronson directed her 
attention, Mary could make out the positions of Honfleur and Trouville, 
the latter a well-known summer resort frequented by numerous people 
of fashion from the French capital, as well as by many who do not enter 
into fashionable life. On the northern bank of the river there is a fine 
panorama of coast from Honfleur to Cape de la Heve, and the attentive 
observer finds it clotted with houses and gardens in great number. 

" If you could look behind the hills you would find the villas and 
gardens just as numerous," said the Doctor. "All the residents of Havre 
who can afford it have their suburban villas. The Frenchman is by 
nature a gardener, and consequently no villa in the suburbs of this sea- 
port is considered complete unless it has a garden of greater or less ex- 
tent attached to it. We shall see some of those gardens, and you will 
all agree with me that they are very pretty." 

" And we ought to see some interesting old houses," said Frank. " I 



MEETING A GREAT STEAMER. 



. 5 




i. .^rJ''\\ 



YACHTING IN THE CHANNEL. 



have been reading that Havre was founded in 1509, and was a prosper- 
ous city soon after that year. So there ought to be some old buildings 
there as well as modern ones." 

"The city is mostly of modern character," was the reply, "but there 
is a fair number of historic buildings and places in and around it. Here 
comes the great steamer, and we will take a glance at her." 

As he spoke they were abreast of the huge vessel, which towered 
above them and made their own boat appear very small. The captain 
was at his post on the bridge, and did not deign to notice the little 
steamer that kept at a respectful distance. There was a slight inter- 
change of courtesies on the part of the passengers of the two vessels, a 
few handkerchiefs being waved as they passed. In a few moments the 
steamers were too far apart for any further observance of marine polite- 
ness, and every one on the boat which bore our friends was looking once 
more in the direction of Havre. 

"What does 'Havre' mean?" queried Mrs. Bassett. 

" The word means ' harbor,' " replied the Doctor, " and is only a part 
of the name of the city to which we are bound." 

"What is the rest of it?" 

"Its full name is ' Le Havre de Notre Dame de Grace,' which was first 



6 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



abbreviated to Havre de Grace, and afterwards to the single word as we 
know it to-day. Sometimes the French call it ' Le Havre,' but the practice 
is steadily going out of fashion. The old and full name may be seen 
on official documents, but you rarely find it elsewhere." 

Mary called attention to a flag-staff at the entrance of the harbor, 
where several flags were extended to the breeze. 




THE CAPTAIN S POST ON THE BRIDGE. 



"That's the signal station," said Doctor Bronson, "and quite pos- 
sibly they are announcing our arrival. We shall go close to it as we 
enter the harbor and come to a stop." 

" Can we go in at any state of the tide ?" Frank asked. 

" Yes, this boat can do so," was the reply ; " but large ships, whether 
steam or sail, must wait for high tide before entering. Even the small 
steamers stir up the mud considerably at low tide, and it is necessary 
for the authorities to dredge the harbor occasionally to prevent its filling 
up. The entrance-harbor is called the avant-port by the French, and we 



ARRIVAL IN PORT. 7 

shall find it filled with coasting vessels and other small craft in consider- 
able numbers. Beyond the avant-port are the docks, which are similar 
to the docks that you saw at Liverpool and London, and have cost a 
great deal of money to make." 

On and on went the little steamer, and in due time the entrance- 
harbor was reached. As they passed the signal station Frank made a 
hasty sketch of the semaphore and light-house. There was a large crowd 
of people at the end of the jetty, and Mrs. Bassett wondered why so 
many had come there just for the sake of witnessing the arrival of Doc- 
tor Bronson and his party. The Doctor explained that the probabilities 
were that the people had assembled on account of the departure of the 
great steamer which they met outside, and also that of a smaller one 
which was just leaving port as they entered. 

When the steamer stopped and the gang-plank was put out, there 
was the usual rush of passengers for the shore. Our friends retired to a 




THE ENTRANCE-PORT OF HAVRE. 



corner of the deck and studied the scene. They were intending to spend 
a few days at Havre, and therefore were in no immediate hurry to land. 
They realized that the great majority of their fellow-passengers were 
anxious to go to Paris by the first train, and therefore had good reason 
for getting on shore as speedily as possible. 



8 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

The boats between Southampton and Havre do not connect with 
special trains, as do some of the short routes over the Channel. Pas- 
sengers take the first train that they can get ; and as trains are numer- 
ous, they never have long to wait. The Southampton-Havre route is by 
no means the most expeditious of the ways between the French and 
English capitals, but it has the advantage of cheapness to travellers 
whose purses are light, and that of comfort to those who are good sailors 
and not in a hurry. The sea passage occupies a little more than six 
hours, with two hours more in the river below Southampton and the 
Channel between the Isle of Wight and the main-land. The voyage is 
made in the night in both directions, so that on rising in the morning 
the traveller is in sight of the shore to which he is destined, or, quite 
likely, safely anchored in port. 

It was a little after the time of high tide when our friends reached 
Havre, and the (want-port was well filled with water. The youths ob- 
served that the ebb-tide was making, and, as there is a difference of 
twenty feet between low and high water, it was evident that the decline 
was by no means slow. Havre has an advantage over other ports on the 
French coast in the peculiarity that at the time of high tide the water 
remains stationary for nearly two hours, while at other points it begins 
to fall almost at the moment it touches the highest point. 

Doctor Bronson said he once had a practical experience growing out 
of the necessity of the immediate departure of a vessel from one of the 
Channel ports of France the instant the tide was at its maximum. He 
came by train from Paris, expecting to connect with the steamer; in 
consequence of a slight accident the train lost half an hour on its way, 
and so reached the port just that much behind time. 

" As we rolled into the station on the pier where the boat lay," said 
the Doctor, " the passengers saw to their dismay that the wheels of the 
boat were in motion, and she was off for her vo} T age over the Channel. 
Every passenger by that train was left behind, and his only recourse was 
to wait for the next boat. Many of the delayed travellers lost their 
temper, and said hard things about the steamboat company. It was ex- 
plained that the boat could not wait even a fraction of a minute longer 
without being left in the harbor until the next period of high tide. 

"Most of the harbors along the western coast of France are the 
mouths of small rivers, little better than brooks, and are dry, or very 
nearly so, at low tide. When the tide is out vessels of all kinds lie in 
the mud or in water that is too shallow to permit their movement. 
When the tide comes in the harbor fills rapidly, and what was before an 



THE VALUE OF TIDES. 



9 



expanse of mud assumes quite a different appearance. One by one the 
vessels are afloat, and those which are outward bound are set in motion 
the moment their captains find their craft free from their muddy beds." 




ALONG THE ROCKS AND SANDS. 



" These harbors get a good washing at every turn of the tide," re- 
marked Frank as the Doctor paused. 

" Yes," was the reply ; " and few persons who have not seen it 
for themselves realize what great purifiers the tides are. Compare 
these ports with those along the Mediterranean, and note the very 
great difference." 

" What is the difference, please ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

"Why," responded her brother, "the Mediterranean is practically 
tideless, the variation being only a few inches in some parts, while its 
greatest rise and fall anywhere is not above three feet. The variation 
is not sufficient to give the cleansing power to the tide that you see 
here on most parts of the coast of the United States. The harbors 
along the Mediterranean are full of filth of all kinds, which accumu- 
lates there in spite of all precaution by the authorities ; the sediment 
settles to the bottom and may be dredged away at intervals, but the 
water in the harbor looks like that of a mud-puddle in the middle of 



10 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

a much - frequented road or the outpouring of a sewer. Never till I 
saw the dirty condition of the harbors of Marseilles, Genoa, Bona, and 
other places along the Mediterranean, did I realize the benefit that a 
seaport receives in being thoroughly washed twice every twenty -four 
hours by a powerful tide." 

" That may be the reason why the places you speak of are so much 
more unhealthy than the ports along the Channel," Fred remarked. 

" I believe so," the Doctor answered. " But of course the residents 
of those places would resent the insinuation, and very emphatically, 
too. The people of Marseilles will never admit that the cholera, which 
frequently afflicts them, is developed and encouraged by the condition 
of their harbor, or at least the older part of it, which appears to con- 
tain the same water that was let into it in the time of the Roman 
emperors. But the crowd at the gangway has thinned out, and we'll 
go on shore and see the city." 

Before they were free to wander about Havre it was necessary to 
observe the custom-house formalities, which include the inspection of 
one's baggage in search of dutiable articles. Doctor Bronson de- 
clared that there was nothing liable to duty in the trunks of himself 
and companions; he had no cigars or tobacco — articles which are 
specially sought by the custom-house officials — and, so far as he knew, 
nothing else that would come within the restrictions. The douanier 
was polite, and evidently a good judge of character ; he examined only 
one trunk out of the entire lot, and even to this he gave but a hasty 
glance. It did not take long for him to ascertain that the party before 
him were travellers in search of pleasure only, and not bent upon de- 
frauding the revenues of the French republic. Furthermore, Doctor 
Bronson had facilitated the work of the official by opening the trunks 
at once before he was asked to do so. 

The tourist who smokes may enter France with a broken package 
of fewer than one hundred cigars ; no objection will be made to fifty, 
seventy, or even ninety -nine cigars ; but if he has an even hundred or 
more, he must pay duty upon them ; and thereby hangs a tale which 
was told by the Doctor while they were waiting their turn for exami- 
nation by the officials. 

" Some years ago," said the Doctor, " I came to Havre in a steamer 
from New York, and of course had to pass through the custom-house 
on my arrival. Among the passengers was a family from the neigh- 
borhood of Boston — a shrewd New Englander with his wife and three 
daughters. The young women were of ages varying between eighteen 



A YANKEE'S TRICK. 



11 



and twenty-two, and very sweet girls they were. The head of the 
family was a smoker, but I never suspected that his wife or daughters 
were addicted to tobacco till I saw them in the French custom-house." 
"Were they smoking there?" queried Mrs. Bassett, in a tone of 
surprise. 



■ 

l 




" No," replied the Doc- 
tor ; " but each of them was 
exhibiting a bundle of cigars 
which the old gentleman 
had put in their hands to 
avoid paying duty upon his 
excess of one hundred. He 
argued that as any individ- 
ual has a right to bring a 
certain number of cigars into France free of duty, it was perfectly 
proper for him to press his wife and daughters into service." 
" Did he succeed ?" Mary asked. 



AN ECONOMICAL ARRANGEMENT. 



12 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Yes ; the custom-house official was evidently puzzled over the sit- 
uation. He certainly appeared quite as surprised as I was at the idea 
of those young women being smokers, and after a little hesitation he 
allowed them to pass without objection. Their father whispered to 
me that his daughters had never smoked a single whiff in all their 
lives, but he thought he could ' fool ' the Frenchman. His argument 
was that many Frenchwomen were smokers of cigarettes, and it was 
easy enough to make a Frenchman believe that American girls smoke 
cigars instead of cigarettes. And he added that as American girls 
have more liberty than French ones, it was quite natural to believe 
that they took their tobacco in the strongest form." 

There was a laugh all around at the shrewdness of the American 
traveller and his zeal in defrauding the French revenue. When it sub- 
sided, Mrs. Bassett propounded the following question : 

" Why is it that people who are otherwise honest do not hesitate 
to cheat the custom-house, not only in foreign countries, but in their 
native lands % I know men and women who would not on any account 
steal the value of a penny, but are always ready to smuggle goods 
through the custom-house, and boast about it if they succeed." 

" The reason is not difficult to find. In every country where there 
are tariffs you will find many men and newspapers who argue that 
tariffs are wrong in principle and practice, that they rob the people in 
a variet} 7 of ways, and ought to be abolished altogether. Revenue 
laws are not like the laws against murder, robbery, and other acts 
which we call crimes; the whole civilized world has criminal laws, 
Avhich are practically alike, but revenue laws are very much at vari- 
ance, and do not prevail everywhere, as you readily understand. The 
lawyers would say to you that smuggling is malum prohibitum (wrong 
because the law says it is), while robbery, murder, and the like are 
malum per se (wrong in themselves). Most countries show very little 
respect for those whose revenue laws are unlike their own. England, 
for example, does not hesitate to encourage smuggling into other coun- 
tries where tariffs exist, as any one who has spent a short time at 
Hong-Kong, Gibraltar, or other British posts and frontiers can testify, 
though she punishes with severity any frauds upon her own revenue." 

" Thank you very much for the explanation," said Mrs. Bassett. 
Just as she said this the officer addressed the Doctor on the subject of 
his baggage, and in a few minutes they were at liberty to depart. 

They had decided to go to the Hotel Frascati, and a commission- 
naire from that establishment was placed in charge of their baggage, 



PLEASURE AT THE SEA-SIDE. 



13 



?•;<£.'-';: 



iffef ^fCT '^^ 








ON THE BEACH AT FRASCATI S. 



while they entered a carriage which was standing on the quay. The 
driver of the vehicle assumed that they were strangers, and in order 
to make as much as possible out of his customers he took them by a 
roundabout way. The Doctor observed it and smiled, and then whis- 



14 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

pered to the rest : " The way he is driving is very much as though 
a cabman in New York should go from Union Square to Madison Square 
by way of the pier at the foot of West Eighteenth Street ; but as you 
are interested in seeing as much as possible of the city we will let him 
go as he likes in taking us to the hotel." 

In due time they reached the hotel, and when Doctor Bronson paid 
the bill for the carriage he dismayed the driver by saying he had been 
in Havre before, and knew the proper route from the quay to Fra- 
scati's. The driver promptly accepted the regulation fare which the 
Doctor tendered, and begged him not to mention the matter to the 
manager of the establishment. 

Frascati's is a little out of the city of Havre, and at the edge of the 
sea. Our friends had chosen it because it would give them a glimpse 
of the sea-bathing ways of the French, as the hotel is quite a resort for 
summer visitors and has a large bathing establishment connected with 
it. In the bathing season the hotel is generally crowded, but when this 
patronage falls off at the beginning of autumn, the house reduces its staff 
of servants and settles down to a condition of stagnation until summer 
comes again and brings the rush of visitors. 

Here is what Mary wrote concerning her first experience at a sea- 
side resort in France : 

" As soon as we were settled at the hotel we went out to see the 
bathers, as the tide was up and it was the proper hour to go into the 

water. One can bathe at all 
hours, but the best time is at 
high tide. When the water is 
low there is a wide stretch of 
beach which is anything but nice 
to walk on, as it is covered with 
stones. And they are not smooth, 
flat stones by any means, but reg- 
ular 'cobbles,' such as we pave 
a hard road to travel. streets with at home. Most of 

the bathers have shoes or slippers 
made of straw, and can get along over the stones very well when their 
feet are thus protected. But they are apt to lose their slippers while in 
the water, and when they do they have a very penitential walk back to 
the bathing-houses. One of our first sights was of a bather who had 
lost his slippers, and found the stones very disagreeable when he placed 
his whole weight on his feet ; so he got down, baby-fashion, and crept 




RULES OF THE BATHING PLACE. 



15 



on all-fours. It was a funny sight, and we laughed quietly to ourselves 
as we looked on and witnessed his antics. 

" Doctor Bronson says that if it was not for the cobble-stones on the 
beach this place would be a formidable rival to Trouville, which is the 




IN THE HANDS OF A BAIGNEUR. 



most fashionable resort on the coast. Trouville and its neighbor, Deau- 
ville, have beaches of sand ; I'll tell you about them when we go there. 
" I wanted to go into the water, and so did Frank and Fred. We 
arranged with the keeper of the bathing-houses to supply us with bath- 
ing-dresses, and were then shown to the little boxes where we made our 
toilets for a swim. I expected we would go into the water together and 
have a nice frolic, just as we would at home, but found when we came 
out on the beach that it was contrary to the rules. There is a high 



16 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

fence separating the bathing place for women from that of the men r 
and those of the different sexes must keep on their own side of this 
fence if they wish to bathe in peace. 

" There is an exception to every rule, so the old adage says, and there 
is an exception here. My brother and cousin could not come into the 
water where I was, but there were several baigneurs, or men whose pro- 
fession it is to accompany women into the water and assist them in their 
bath. Yery few Frenchwomen can swim, and so the duties of a bai- 
gneur consist in holding his fair charge by the shoulders while he dips 
her under the water a few times and takes care that she does not drown. 
These men are sailors or fishermen, and expect fees for their services. 
Frank says that the rules of the French bathing places are devised so 
that the assistants can earn a living, as they are allowed to go where 
husbands, fathers, or brothers are excluded. 

"I astonished and doubtless chagrined the baigneurs by declining 
their help and going into the water alone. One of them told me I was 
not allowed to do so ; but I said I could swim, and did not wait to see 
if he was telling the truth or only trying to frighten me into employ- 
ing him for half an hour or so. 

" I swam out a good distance from the shore, till they shouted to me 
to come back. Whether they thought I was in danger or not I can't say, 
but I turned around and went leisurely towards the shore. The slippers 
Avere something of a hinderance in swimming, but I had them fastened 
very firmly, as I didn't want to cut my feet on the stones. Finding he 
could not be employed to assist me in swimming, one of the baigneurs 
offered to support me in going from the beach to the bathing-houses, 
but I declined his offer and walked back by myself. Frank and Fred 
came out soon afterwards, and as soon as we were dressed we hurried to 
the pavilion in front of the hotel, where mamma and Doctor Bronson 
had ordered breakfast for the party. 

" Do not suppose that all the people who visit Frascati's go there to 
bathe. Those who go into the water are a minority ; the most of the 
visitors sit on the shore or under the pavilion, or promenade wherever 
the walking is good enough for that amusement. There are some who 
put on bathing-suits but don't bathe; they are like the 'gallery riders' 
at Durland's and other riding-schools in New York — women who go 
every afternoon to the schools, dressed in their riding-habits and with 
whips in their hands, but are never known to do anything else than sit 
in the gallery and see other people ride in the ring. 

" We were ready for breakfast, you may be sure, as it was eleven in 



A FRENCH BREAKFAST. 



17 



the forenoon, and all we had taken since getting up in the morning was 
a little coffee and some rolls on board the boat that brought us from 
Southampton. Don't be surprised that we are breakfasting at this 
hour. We are in France, and are doing as the French do ; they take 
only their cafe au lait in the morning (which means coffee with milk), 
and perhaps a roll or a crust of dry bread. Breakfast is from 11 a.m. 
to 1 p.m., and is the first serious meal of the day. Then comes dinner 
at six or seven in the evening, and that ends the day's feeding. I like 
our home ways the best, but of course don't propose to ask the French 
people to change their customs to oblige me. 

" Near the table where we were at breakfast there was an American 




IN THE CAFE. 



party of four, who were evidently of one family. Their conversation 
was carried on in a tone so loud that we could hear nearly all they said, 
and the chief topic was the difficulty of finding things here such as they 



18 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

had at home. One wanted buckwheat cakes, another desired pie, and a 
third was hungering for corned beef and cabbage. After a long denunci- 
ation of the benighted French, who knew nothing about those American 
luxuries, one of the party remarked, philosophically, ' I suppose if we^ 
should say anything to a Frenchman about it, he would tell us to go 
back and stay in our country, and we could have things our own way — 
and that's just what he ought to say.' 

" None of the others made any response to this remark ; evidently 
they thought it was too near the truth to be seriously opposed. 

" When they had gone, Doctor Bronson said he once travelled for a 
time on the Continent with an American, whose great annoyance was the 
impossibility of having all the courses of his dinner served at once. He 
had been accustomed at home to having his entire dinner placed on the 
table before he sat down, and could not understand why the same prac- 
tice does not prevail here. After vainly endeavoring for several months 
to reform the dinner practices of Europeans, he went back to America, 
vowing that he would never again cross the Atlantic until the Europeans 
knew how to serve a dinner properly. 

" But I am getting away from Frascati's and the baths of Havre. 
Do not suppose this is the only bathing-place here ; there are several 
establishments, belonging to different proprietors — in fact, the shore for 
a mile or more is lined with bathing houses, and we can see them directly 
beneath the heights of Sainte-Adresse. It's a great pity that the shore 
is so rocky, as its condition seriously interferes with the comfort of mak- 
ing a plunge in the sea." 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVRE. 



19 



CHAPTER II. 

A DRIVE IN THE SUBURBS OF HAVRE.— SAINTE-ADRESSE AND THE LIGHT-HOUSE. 
—VILLAS, GARDENS, AND OTHER SUBURBAN ATTRACTIONS. — HOUSES OF AL- 
PHONSE KARR AND SARA BERNHARDT. — MONUMENT TO GENERAL DESNOU- 
ETTES AND ITS PRACTICAL USES.— AN AMUSING INCIDENT.— AN EVENING 
WALK ALONG THE STREETS AND QUAYS.— THE RUE DE PARIS.— IN THE FISH- 
MARKET.— THE FISHING FOLKS OF NORMANDY; THEIR ORIGIN, OCCUPATION, 
AND PECULIARITIES.— VISIT TO A FISHING VILLAGE.— INTERIOR OF FISHERS' 
HOUSES.— MUSSELING AND SHRIMPING.— A FISH AUCTION— HAULING BOATS 
ON SHORE.— HARFLEUR AND HAVRE CONTRASTED.— THE DOCKS OF HAVRE.— 
THEIR EXTENT AND COST.— DEPARTURE OF AN OCEAN STEAMSHIP.—" C. G. T." 

T1S" the afternoon Doctor Bronson went to call on his old friend, the 
-*- Consul of the United States, while the others of the party engaged 
a carriage, and drove about the city and into the suburbs. Mrs. Bassett 




A TWILIGHT KFJFECT. 



said she wanted to see some of the villas and gardens which had been 
mentioned, and so the drive was made to include Ingouville and Sainte- 
Adresse and the country behind them. 

All agreed that the suburbs of Havre were very attractive, the villas 
and gardens displaying excellent taste on the part of their owners. 
The visit to Sainte-Adresse was timed so as to include the sunset view, 
and they were fortunate in having a clear sky and plenty of color on 
the horizon. From the edge of the cliff our friends watched the sun 



20 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

sinking into the western sea, tingeing the waves with golden and purple 
beams, and lighting with its glow the many sails that were stippled on 
the waters. Mrs. Bassett declared that she had never seen anything 
half as pretty in sunset effects, and Mary wished that the scene might 
be placed on canvas by some of the American painters whose names 
are famous in landscape work. 

They visited the light-house which they had seen as they approached 
Havre in the morning, and Mary discovered what she had not noticed 
in her hurried glance from the steamboat : that there are two light-houses 
about fifty feet apart, and standing on a cliff more than three hundred 
feet above the sea. The second structure is intended for use in case the 
other should be disabled, and it has a complete apparatus for electric 
lighting independent of the other. The custodian showed them through 
the establishment, and said that the light was placed on Sainte-Adresse 
more than a hundred years ago, and had been burning every night 
since long before he could remember. 

We may remark, by the way, that the light-house of Sainte-Adresse 
has no superior on the French coast, and the light is said to be dis- 
tinctly visible for more than thirty marine miles. The official claim for 
it is that it can be seen for twenty-eight miles, and the greatest care is 
exercised in its management. It was one of the first light-houses to 
use the electric light, which was not adopted by the Government until 
after the most careful experiments. 

On the way to the top of the cliff the driver of the carriage pointed 
out the house of Alphonse Karr, a French author of celebrity. An 
elderly gentleman was walking in the garden, and Mrs. Bassett at once 
inquired if he was Mr. Karr. 

" No, madame," the driver answered ; " Mr. Karr sold the house sev- 
eral years ago, and has no more interest in it now than you have ; but 
nobody knows it by any other name than Alphonse Karr's house. A 
merchant of Havre bought it, but I can't remember his name." 

Elsewhere the driver pointed out a summer-house which, he said, 
belonged to the famous actress, Sara Bernhardt. The eccentric Sara 
was born at Havre, and is very fond of her birthplace ; and she has 
manifested her fondness by building this summer home, so that she can 
come here in the season of baths. Then there is a large house that was 
built by Queen Christine of Spain, and gives a delightful view of the 
port and city of Havre, with much of the surrounding panorama. 

There was a bewildering succession of summer-houses, gardens, and 
villas along the road, and our friends found it impossible to remember 



THE SUGAR-LOAF MONUMENT. 



21 




VOTIVE OFFERING AT THE CHURCH. 



a tenth of the names that were repeated by the communicative driver. 
They reached a church, which the driver said was built by the contribu- 
tions of the sailors and fishermen of Havre and its vicinity, and was 
called Notre Dame des Flots. At Mrs. Bassett's suggestion, they visited 
the interior, but found nothing remarkable in the way of architecture 
or paintings ; but they saw a great number of votive offerings, which 
had been deposited in the church by pious mariners, either in return for 
perils they had escaped, or as a preliminary to possible perils that might 
come. In leaving the church they met a party of pilgrims bringing an 
offering in the shape of a miniature boat — the model, probably, of a 
vessel that had escaped destruction in a storm at sea. 

JSTot far from the church is a monument which excited the curiosity 
of the visitors, and they promptly asked the driver what it was. 

" The people of Havre call it pain de sucre " (sugar-loaf), said the 
driver, with a smile. 

" It certainly resembles a sugar-loaf," said Frank, " or possibly an 
egg in an egg-cup." 

" I saw it when I was looking through the glass," said Mary, " and 
wondered what it was." 

Then the driver explained that it was a monument to the memory 



22 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

of General Desnouettes, who perished in a shipwreck in the early part 
of this century. His widow caused it to be put here, and she left a sum 
of money to the city of Havre, on condition that the monument should 
always be kept in perfect repair and as snowy-white as the traveller 
sees it to-day. She intended it not only as a monument to the memory 
of her husband, but as a beacon to sailors approaching Havre. Its 
whiteness and peculiar shape make it visible at a great distance, and 
many blessings have been invoked upon the thoughtful widow not only 
by the mariners for whom it was intended, but by sea-sick passengers 
arriving from the English coast. Mrs. Bassett remarked that it was a 
pity that all monuments in memory of husbands could not be as prac- 
tical as the one they were considering, and her opinion was most em- 
phatically echoed by the others. 

Frank made note of an amusing incident of their excursion. At a 




LIGHT-HOUSES NEAR HAVRE. 



BEGGING IS FORBIDDEN." 



23 



turn in the road between Havre and Sainte - Adresse attention was 
drawn to a post on which was displayed in large letters, "La Mendicite 
est Interdite " (begging is forbidden). Throughout all parts of France 
this notice may be seen ; but the traveller might infer by the frequent 
appeals for charity to 
the lame, halt, blind, ( 
and otherwise unfortu- 
nate that the law in 
regard to beggary is 
not very closely ob- 
served. Frank called 
attention to the cir- 
cumstance that a men- 
dicant was seated at 
the foot of the post, 
and resting his back 
against the stick of 
timber that supported 
the prohibitory sign. 
His hat rested between 
his knees, and it was 
open for the reception 
of whatever small coins 
could be obtained from 
passers-by. As the car- 
riage neared the spot, 
the beggar whined 
an appeal for help 
to a poor man whose 
family was starving. 
Moved by the humor 




IN THE FIELDS NEAR THE CITY. 



of the situation, Frank 

bestowed a gratuity to 

the supplicant, who, doubtless, did not realize to what he owed the gift 

from one whom he had never before seen. 

In the evening our friends strolled out to the end of the pier that 
marks the entrance of the harbor, and enjoyed the twilight effects which 
were presented. Then they wandered along the Eue de Paris, the prin- 
cipal street of the city, and regarded by the inhabitants as a sort of 
miniature of the boulevards of the capital of the republic. Unfortu- 



24 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

nately, it was laid out when narrow sidewalks were in fashion, and 
therefore there is not sufficient room for a large number of pedestrians. 
It extends from the quay to the garden of the Hotel de Yille (City 
Hall), and contains the best shops of the city. Fred observed that 
there were several shops devoted to the sale of marine curiosities in the 
shape of shells more or less rare, and miniature houses and other orna- 
ments constructed of shells and sea-products of various kinds. The oth- 
er shops were stocked with goods similar to those found along the bou- 
levards of Paris, but the quantities were not large. Mrs. Bassett and 
Mary devoted an hour or two to shopping, but found that the goods 
they sought were in limited variety, and not at all low in price. Con- 
sequently, they postponed making any purchases until reaching Paris. 

After the shopping excursion Mary suggested a visit to the fish- 
market, as her attention had been attracted to the picturesque costumes 
of the fisher men and women. The girl's suggestion was adopted at 
once, and the fish-market was visited. Here is Fred's account of what 
was seen there by the visitors : 

" The market is in a building specially adapted to the sale of fish and 
close to the water, so that the finny merchandise can be transferred to 
it directly from the boats without the necessity of carrying it in wagons. 
On low benches were the fish that had been brought in for sale ; they 
included mackerel, sole, and other well-known fishes, as well as some 
with which we were unfamiliar. 

" One thing that amused us and seemed very funny was the amount 
of dog-fish and skate that were offered for sale, and were purchased, too. 
You know that w T e make no account of these fishes around New York ; 
in Great South Bay (on Long Island), all along the Sound, and on the 
Jersey coast both these fishes are thrown away, and all fishermen con- 
sider them a nuisance. But they eat them here, and are evidently fond 
of them, especially of the skate. The French call him rate, or ray. 
We have eaten raie au heurre noir (skate with black butter), and con- 
sidered it very good. Doctor Bronson says that on parts of the coast of 
England the skate is considered an excellent food fish, while on other 
parts of the same coast it is thrown away. 

" By questioning the fisher men and women in the market, we found 
that both the ray and dog-fish were abundant and cheap, and were eaten 
more by poor people than by the upper classes. One of our informants 
said that if dog-fish was two francs a pound all the fashionable people 
would want it, and only on account of its cheapness did they leave it to 
those who couldn't afford anything dearer. It made me think of our 



IN THE FISH-MARKET. 



25 



own American fish, the porgy. Everybody who has eaten it knows 
what a delicious fish it is ; but it is abundant and cheap in ISTew York, 
and consequently the fashionable people of Manhattan Island never think 
of having it on their tables. 

" Mrs. Bassett wanted us to find out the best ways for cooking dog- 
fish and skate, and so we asked one of the women in the market. She 
said the dog-fish is cut into steaks and fried or broiled, just as we cook 
halibut, which, by the way, it closely resembles in taste and appearance. 
The skate may be fried or boiled, and a favorite way of eating boiled 
skate is to serve it up 
cold with some kind of 
piquant sauce, or with 

no sauce at all. In the _ 

best restaurants it is % 

cooked with ' black but- 
ter.' You must ask the 
cook how to make 
black butter, as I am 
just now unable to tell 
you. When I've learn- 
ed how I'll let you 
know. 

" Quite as interest- 
ing as anything we saw 
in the fish-market were 
the men and women 
who gain their living 
from the produce of 
the sea. The men that 
we saw were clad in 
canvas trousers and 
knitted shirts; their 
caps were of wool 
and fitted close to the 
head, with a tassel 
hanging down from 

the peak, and on their feet they had high stockings with wooden shoes. 
As they walked about the market their shoes clattered rather loudly 
upon the concrete flooring. They are accustomed all their lives to 
these wooden shoes, and wear them with that perfect ease which is 




WAITING FOR THE TIDE. 



26 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the result of long practice. Some of them had sashes or belts to hold 
their trousers in place, as they were guiltless of suspenders, and we saw 
one man who had substituted a piece of rope for the sash. The men 
were rough and uncouth in appearance, but their manners were civil, 
and they courteously answered all our questions, although it was ap- 
parent from the first that we had not come to purchase fish, but only 
out of curiosity. 

" One of the women seemed to take a liking to Mary when she found 
they could converse intelligibly, although her French was a good deal 
unlike that of the girl's. The peasant dialect of Normandy contains a 
great many words that are not found in Parisian French, but the differ- 
ence is not so great as that between the English tongue of London and 
that of Yorkshire. The Norman fishing women wear the same sort of 
shoes as the men wear, and the white caps that cover their heads are 
only a little different from those of their husbands and brothers. The 
skirts of their dresses reach a little below the knee, and sometimes half- 
way to the ankle ; some dresses are longer than others, but you never 
see one of them long enough to sweep the ground, or even touch it. The 
upper part of the dress is a coat or jacket gathered in at the waist, where 
it is often held by a sash, or, maybe, a cord or belt. For Sundays or 
festive occasions they have capes over their jackets, and the Sunday 
dress is so carefully kept that it lasts a good many years. 

" We found that here, as in Holland and Germany, the women do a 
great deal of work out-of-doors, and many of them seem quite as robust 
as the men and as little afraid of exercising their muscles. They help 
in handling the boats, hauling the nets, sorting and carrying fish, and 
doing other work that requires strength and experience. Yery often 
the hardest of the work falls to them ; but you are not likely to see on 
the Normandy coast a repetition of the scene in Holland, where a woman 
and a dog were towing a boat, and a man was sitting at the helm and 
comfortably smoking a pipe while he steered the boat along the canal. 

" Mary's new friend called her attention to some mussels, those de- 
licious shell-fish which are sold in great quantities both in England and 
France. Mary asked where they came from and how they were caught, 
and the woman endeavored to enlighten her. 

" ' We find them on the rocks all along the coast,' was the explana- 
tion, which I'll put into plain English, ' or, rather, on a good many of the 
rocks. We go out at low tide with baskets on our shoulders and knives 
in our hands, and find the mussels clinging to the rocks among the sea- 
weed. They seem to grow there between the tides. It takes a sharp 



MUSSEL-CATCHING. 



27 




FISHERWOMEN. 



eye to find them, and I could fill my basket before you (if you've never 
gone musseling) could gather a dozen.' 

" Mary acknowledged that she wasn't familiar with mussel-catching, 
and then the woman went on to tell her that she liked it better than 
any other work. ' You see,' she said, ' we go out together, old women 
and middle-aged and young, and we talk and laugh and have a good 
time, when all the while we are filling our baskets. We follow the tide 
as it goes out, and then when it turns and comes in we work along be- 
fore it till it drives us away. By the time we get to the mark of high- 
water our baskets are full if we have worked diligently, and sometimes 
we go two or three, or, perhaps, half a dozen, times in a single tide. At 
the beach we find the carts that are waiting for our loads, or perhaps 
we empty the mussels into a boat if they are to come to market by 
water, as many of them do.' 

" Mary suggested that it must be very wet work among the rocks. 
To this suggestion the woman tossed her head with a laugh, and replied 
that nobody minded a wetting ; if she did, she wasn't fit to be a fisher- 
man's wife or sister. Then she called attention to a quantity of shrimps 



28 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

on one of the tables, and asked Mary if she would like to go out and 
catch those creeping things. 

" Mary was in doubt, and said she would have to think over the ques- 
tion before giving an answer. Her friend told her that the shrimp is 
caught in the water as the tide recedes ; the shrimper follows closely 
after the tide, armed with basket and net, and she dips her net in the 
pools among the rocks. ' When she casts her net,' was the explanation, 
' she does not know whether she will catch anything or not ; she takes 
the chance upon it, and may bring up nothing, perhaps a shrimp or two, 
or perhaps a great many. She must wade about in the water, which is 
often up to her knees, but of course that's nothing to her if she can only 
fill her basket with shrimps.' " 

The visit to the fish-market and the talk with the good-natured woman 
there was the natural prelude to a visit, a few days later, to the fishing 
village of Etretat (A-tree-tar), a few miles up the coast. We call it a 
fishing village, though it is also a fashionable, or semi-fashionable, resort, 
and has a considerable number of hotels and boarding-houses that are 
filled in summer with people who go to enjoy themselves at the sea-side. 
But as our friends went there solely to look at the fishing people, we 
will not concern ourselves with the summer visitors, of whom, by-the- 
way, they saw very little. 

Half the beach has been given up to the demands of recreation, and 
the other half is exclusively held by the fisher folks. There is a scene 
of almost constant activity there, but it is greatest in the morning, as at 
most fishing places the world over. Whenever a boat arrives there is 
more or less excitement ; formerly nearly all the fish that were taken 
were sent to the markets of Paris or Havre, but the many mouths to be 
fed at the summer hotels make a local demand that often is of material 
advantage to the fishers. 

When a boat arrives a group is sure to gather to welcome it. It is 
composed of many idlers and strangers, drawn there for curiosity or to 
pass the time ; but it also includes those who are on the alert to purchase 
the harvest of the sea, and, surest and best of all, the wives and children 
of the men in the boat. 

Our friends saw the arrival of a fishing-boat at the beach of Etretat, 
and it is thus described by Frank : 

" While we were on the cliff above the village we saw two women 
watching intently with a glass, and evidently on the lookout for a boat. 
Presently the one who held the telescope uttered a joyful cry, which 
was echoed by another, who held a child in her arms ; then the glass was 



30 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

closed, and the two women started for the beach, whither we followed 
them a little while afterwards. 

" We saw the boat, a speck on the horizon ; but very soon it grew into 
the well-defined figure of a boat speeding straight for the beach at Etre- 
tat. "When it touched the beach one of the men sprang to the shore, 
seized the baby in his arms and kissed it, and then kissed the woman, 
who seemed to regard it as all right that the child should have the 
first attention. As soon as the greetings were over the boat was hauled 
up by means of a capstan and strong rope. 

" The boats must be built very strongly to enable them to withstand 
the strain of being dragged over the sand and pebbles every time they 
come to land. Boards and billets of wood covered with grease are 
placed beneath the keel to lessen or prevent damage ; but even with 
these preventatives it seems to us that the boats must suffer a good 
deal. They are hauled up so that when the tide is at its full they will 
float and be all ready for sailing away on another voyage. 

" When the boat had been brought to where it was wanted the fish 
were taken out of it and thrown on the beach. Then they were sold at 
auction, and anybody who was present had a right to bid. Women 
from the fish-market of Etretat were among the bidders ; so were the 
proprietors of hotels and boarding-houses, and also the citizens who 
dwelt in their own homes and were trying to supply their tables at the 
lowest possible price. Then, too, there were agents of the dealers in 
Paris and Havre ; and, furthermore, the owner of the boat had the right 
of refusing all bids if he thought he could do better at private sale. But 
this, we are told, is rarely the case, as some of the bidders are sure to go 
to the very smallest limit that will leave any profit at all on the sale of 
the fish to the consumer. 

" The fish for which there seemed to be greatest demand was the sole. 
The boat that we saw had only a dozen or so of these fish, and there 
was sharp competition for them among the hotel-keepers and other con- 
sumers. So sharp was it that the fishermen probably obtained more for 
their prizes- than they would have brought in the market of Paris, mak- 
ing no allowance for the expense of transportation and the profits of the 
middlemen. This country is no exception to the rule that articles are 
often dearer at the place of production than in the great cities. 

" We asked about the management of the fishing business, and were 
told that the fishermen had rules of their own which had been in force 
for centuries, and had all the strength of law — in fact, they were stronger 
than any laws of the land, as they were never disputed, and no one 




A SHRIMPER. 



32 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

thought of calling them unjust. The men attend to the work of the sea T 
while the women care for the houses, sell the fish, and manage all that 
pertains to the land. The owner of a fishing -boat commands it, or, 
rather, the largest owner, as very often several persons have an interest 
in the craft. Sometimes the captain owns only the hull of the boat, 
while another owns the sails and rigging, and another the nets, while 
perhaps a fourth owns the capstan and the rope by which the boat is 
hauled upon the beach. Sometimes the boats are owned by patrons — 
men who do not go on the water themselves, but supply the craft for 
those who do. In any case, all those interested either in the owner- 
ship or management of the boat are paid by a proportionate share of the 
profits, if any there are. In good' seasons they receive a fair return, 
while in bad seasons the summer's toil will amount to but little. 

" We had an opportunity to see the interior of a fisherman's dwelling, 
and you may be sure we embraced it. It was a rude hut externally and 
not very spacious, but never was there a cleaner or more tidy house in 
all JSFew England, or, at any rate, none that any of us ever saw. The 
floor was of brick, but so well was it scoured that we thought it was laid 
in polished tiles until we examined it more closely than at the first 
glance. At one side of the kitchen, the first room we entered, there was 
a series of shelves, on which were plates, cups, saucers, and other table 
ornaments ; and ornaments they really were, as they were very old and 
of a pattern that is now very rarely found. The woman who showed us 
the house said the plates had belonged to her grandmother, and she 
didn't know but they might have been the property of 'grandmother's 
grandmother,' too, and perhaps of her grandmother. 

" There was a great fireplace at one side of the room, and above it 
were several stewpans and other kitchen utensils of copper, all of them 
scoured so perfectly that you might have wiped them with a cambric 
handkerchief without soiling it. Everything about the place was as 
clean as it could possibly be made. 

" The woman invited mamma and Mary to the upper rooms of the 
house, and they disappeared up a very narrow and crooked stair-way. 
Mary says there were two sleeping-rooms in the upper story, and the 
linen was as spotless in its whiteness as any that they saw in the houses 
of Holland or Vierlande, or any other house they visited in the North 
of Europe. At the top of the staircase there was a great armoire, which 
the woman unlocked, and showed piles upon piles of sheets and towels 
and other linen for household use. Evidently the family was not a poor 
one, and from all we can see there is little real poverty among these 



THE FISHERS' RETURN. 



33 



fisher folks. They work hard for their living, and all take a hand in the 
work, and their honesty and industry are rewarded. 

"A gentleman who is familiar with these people tells us that the 
Normandy fishermen are the descendants of the ancient Norsemen. 




They live on the coast, and de- 
vote their whole lives to the 
sea. They never intermarry 
with the farmer peasants in the 
country just back of them, but 
remain a distinct people, with 
little change among them, in spite of the temptations to go elsewhere 
and the demoralizing presence of crowds of strangers during the summer 



WATCHING FOR THE BOAT. 



34 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

months. They preserve their primitive customs to a remarkable degree 
when their surroundings are considered, and altogether are a very pict- 
uresque and interesting portion of the inhabitants of France." 

We will now return to Havre, the greatest seaport of the Atlantic 
seaboard of the French republic, and the one that has the most intimate 
relations with America. 

Frank and Fred took the first opportunity that presented itself to 
visit the docks that have been constructed at great expense, and with- 
out which the commerce of the city would be comparatively insignifi- 
cant. The first of these docks, the Bassin du Roi, and sometimes called 
Vieux Bassin, was made in 1669, a hundred and fifty years after the 
founding of the city by Francois I. That enterprising ruler ordered a 
wall of protection to be built here, and a port established on the site of 
what was then a fishing village tributary to Harfleur, the sovereign 
port, four miles away. All the commerce of this part of the coast was 
centred at Harfleur previous to that time, and so important was the 
place that it was stubbornly fought for in the wars between France and 
England. How times have changed ! Havre has grown to an impor- 
tance of which all the world knows in a general way, while Harfleur 
has diminished to a population of barely two thousand, its harbor is 
filled with sand, and its only fleet consists of a few fishing-boats. 

Nearly all that remains to show the former greatness of Harfleur is 
a Gothic church, one of the finest in Normandy, and the chateau which 
was once the royal palace. Our friends had a delightful drive to Har- 
fleur, and extended their excursion so as to include Eouelles and the 
forest of Mont Geon. The drive was taken in the forenoon, when the 
ground was moist and the trees and grasses were glistening with the 
effect of a heavy shower during the night. On their return Mrs. Bas- 
sett declared that she did not in all her experience remember a drive 
that was more interesting or presented more points for admiration. 

When the Bassin du Roi (King's Dock) was built it was thought to be 
ample for the needs of the port for a long time ; but before many years 
other docks were needed, and then others, and so from time to time the 
system of docks has been extended, and is not yet complete. There are 
nine docks in all, and as we write a new one is in process of construc- 
tion, and in course of time will be followed by others. 

" The largest of the docks," said Frank, " is that of the Eure, which 
has a surface of fifty-three acres and a mile and a quarter of quays. 
The water in this dock has a depth of thirty feet, and there is a dry- 
dock connected with it which is capable of holding the largest of the 




A NORMAN INTERIOR. 



36 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



ships that visit the port of Havre. Just think what an amount of work 
was necessary to dig away the earth and build the walls of this one 
dock, and then remember that there are eight other docks, though none 
of them are as large as this one. The old accounts have been lost, and 
so it is impossible to say what has been the cost of these docks ; but it is 
said that more than fifty millions of dollars have been expended upon 
them in the last twenty-five years. Two thousand ships can be accom- 
modated in the docks of Havre without crowding*. 




IN THE HAKBOE. 



"The great steamers use the Eure Dock, but steamers are not by any 
means confined to it. "We found steamers in other docks and mixed up 
with sailing-ships, with the exception of the Bassin du Commerce (Com- 
merce Dock), which was full of sailing craft without a single steamer. 
The Bassin du Commerce is the oldest, with the exception of the Bassin 
du Eoi, and has recently been enlarged and deepened to accommodate 
it to the increased tonnage of modern ships. At one end of this dock 
is the square named after Louis XYL, and a very pretty square it is. 



DEPARTURE OF AN OCEAN STEAMER. 37 

We went there in the evening to listen to the music, and found the place 
well filled with people, who sat in front of the cafes or lounged beneath 
the trees. The principal theatre of Havre is at one side of the square, 
and at the edge of the dock is some ponderous machinery for inserting 
or removing the masts of ships. 

"We were fortunate enough to be present at the departure of a great 
steamship from the Eure Basin. It is hardly necessary to say that the 
time of leaving is fixed for the highest point of the tide, and everything 
must be ready for the hour named. Then the gates at the entrance of 
the dock are opened, the engines of the steamer are put in motion, the 
lines that held her to the quay are cast off, and with two or three pow- 
erful tug-boats to aid her in turning, the unwieldy vessel gets under way. 
An ocean steamer may ' walk the water like a thing of life ' when she 
is away from land and has all the room she desires, but when in port 
she is as clumsy as a rheumatic hippopotamus. In the docks here at 
Havre she cannot move without the aid of the noisy little tugs that bus- 
tle about with an appearance of being fully sensible of their importance. 

" In the instance I describe, the tugs pulled at the bow and stern of 
the great steamer, now in one direction and now in another; and though 
she came very close to other vessels in the dock, she did not harm any 
of them, nor did she scrape her sides against the walls at the gate-ways, 
though she didn't seem to be more than a foot or two from them on 
either side. Sometimes she shut off steam altogether, and dependejd 
entirely on the tugs, and sometimes her engines were going, but never 
at higher than half-speed. By-and-by she got outside, amid the cheer- 
ing of the people at the semaphore, and when well at sea she dropped 
the tugs, quickened her speed, and was off for her port of destination on 
the other side of the Atlantic." 

" How funny it looks," said Mary, " to see those great ships going 
along among the warehouses as though they were on land instead of 
water!" * . 

" Yes," said Fred ; " it's a good deal like starting in a steamer from 
the City Hall of New York, going down Broadway to Wall Street, and 
then turning off towards the East Kiver, to come out at the ferry." 

"What is the meaning of ' C. Gr. T.' on the flag of the great steamer?" 
Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" That is the flag of the Compagnie Generate Transatlantique," 
Frank replied, "the great steamship company that we talked about 
when we were coming here from Southampton. The people of Havre 
are very proud of it, and with good reason." 



38 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Why so ?" 

" Because a great deal of the prosperity of the port is due to the 
steamship company. It has spent a large amount of money in improv- 
ing the harbor and docks and the facilities for receiving and sending 
away freight. It has a fleet of sixty or seventy ships, and many of 

them are of very heavy ton- 
nage ; and when you remember 
that the line between Havre 
and New York occupies only 
six of the ships, you can imag- 
ine what an extensive business 
it has. It has a line between 
Havre and Colon on the Isth- 
mus of Panama, another be- 
tween Saint-Nazaire and Colon, 
another from Saint-Nazaire to 
Yera Cruz, and one from Mar- 
seilles to Yera Cruz. Then it 
has lines to South America, and 
several branch lines, and I don't 
know exactly how many lines it 
has in the Mediterranean, which 
are not transatlantic at all." 

" Is all the business directed 
from here ?" Mary asked. 

" No ; the seat of the admin- 
istration is at Paris, where all 
questions of importance are de- 
cided, and sometimes trivial matters that arise at sea are referred there." 
As he said this Frank looked significantly towards Doctor Bronson, 
who proceeded to give an example of Frank's assertion. 

" Once when I was on board one of the company's vessels in the 
middle of the Atlantic, I asked the first officer to allow me to open the 
window of my cabin. It was during the evening, the weather was very 
hot, the sea was smooth as a pond, and the cabin was like an oven. The 
officer said it could not be allowed unless I first obtained the permission 
of the administration at Paris ! Then I asked if he would kindly send 
a telegram at once saying what I wanted. He replied, in the most ap- 
parent innocence, that they had no telegraph line from the ship, and 
therefore it would be impossible to send the inquiry I suggested." 




CAPTAIN OF THE"C. G. T. 



PASSENGERS OF ALL SORTS. 



39 



CHAPTER III. 



COMPLEX RULES OF THE " C. G. T."— TARIFF FOR DOGS, MONKEYS, AND PARROTS.— 
COMMERCE OF HAVRE.— WOMEN UNLOADING SHIPS.— "PAUL AND VIRGINIA." 
—MONUMENT TO ITS AUTHOR.— ANCIENT HOUSES IN HAVRE.— JOHN LAW 
AND THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE.— NEW USE FOR LOGWOOD.— WHY AMERICAN 
CIDER IS SENT TO FRANCE.— FRENCH EXPLORATION OF THE NEW WORLD.— 
JACQUES CARTIER AND OTHER NAVIGATORS.— FROM HAVRE TO TROUVILLE.— 
THE MOST FASHIONABLE OF SEA-SIDE RESORTS.— THE BEACH AND THE RULES 
FOR BATHING— SCENES AT THE BATHING HOUR— MISHAP TO BATHERS AND 
THE RESULT.— THE BEACH AT LOW TIDE.— THE CASINO IN THE EVENING.— 
DANCING AND GAMING. 

IN further conversation about the " C. G. T.," Mrs. Bassett and Mary 
learned that the regulations of the company were very numerous and 
minute, in the 
effort to cover 
all possible con- 
tingencies. It 
is stated in the 
company's cir- 
cular that chil- 
dren under three 
years of age, 
accompanying 
their parents, 
are carried free ; 
those from three 
to eight years 
pay one-quarter 
fare ; from eight 
to twelve years, 
half fare ; and 

above twelve years, full fare. The circular adds that if there be several 
children under three years of age in a family, free passage is allowed to 
only one of them, the others paying quarter fare. Then follows a long 




A PASSENGER FOR FIFTY FRANCS. 



4:0 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

series of rules regarding baggage, servants, and the rights of passengers 
in the cabins, and the regulations close with the statement that passen- 
gers must pay fifty francs for each dog or monkey, and twenty francs 
for each parrot. Mary asked if there was a tariff for snakes, turtles, 
elephants, hippopotami, lions, or tigers, but on this point the youths 
were unable to afford the desired information. 

In his pursuit of knowledge Fred made note of the fact that more 
than half a million bales of American cotton entered the port of Havre 
in a single year, two hundred thousand barrels of petroleum, and more 
than three million bushels of American grain. The total business of 
the port is about two hundred and fifty millions of dollars annually in 
imports and exports, and about one-fifth of the whole foreign commerce 
of France is carried on through Havre. Year by year the commerce 
of the port increases, and Havre is to France what Liverpool is to the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

While they were visiting the docks Mrs. Bassett called attention to 
the circumstance that the work of loading and unloading vessels was 
not monopolized by the men. Women were carrying boxes and bales 
or rolling barrels and hogsheads with a facility that could only be the 
result of long experience. Doctor Bronson said that the sight of women 
performing heavy work was not at all unusual all through France, and 
it was especially to be seen along the seaboard. 

" You will find as you go through the country," said the Doctor, 
" that women have a very prominent place in the daily affairs of life. 
The most of the small shops are managed by them to a great extent ; 
they keep the accounts, attend behind the counters, and in other ways 
show themselves both willing and capable. If an American shopkeeper 
would consent to allow his wife to assist him in his business, the proba- 
bilities are great that she would not think it proper that he should do 
anything of the kind. In France, on the contrary, the wife of a shop- 
keeper divides the cares of the business with her husband, and not infre- 
quently she is the leader in the management of it. Four times out of 
five she keeps the accounts and handles the money, and the husband 
makes no transaction of consequence without fully and freely consult- 
ing her beforehand." 

" A very sensible people they are," said Mrs. Bassett ; " and perhaps 
that is the reason why France is so prosperous. I wonder when the 
women fell into the custom you describe ?" 

" It is generally said," replied the Doctor, " that the custom arose 
during the wars at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning 



FRENCHWOMEN IN BUSINESS. 



41 



of the nineteenth, when every man who was able to bear arms was 
forced into the military service, leaving only the old men, boys, and 




MEN AND WOMEN UNLOADING A STEAMER. 



women at home. Work with hand and brain fell to the lot of women 
by . necessity, and hence came the custom which has ever since been 
maintained throughout all the country." 



42 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Thank you for the explanation," said Mrs. Bassett. 

There was a pause which was broken by Frank, who turned to Mary 
and asked if she had read Paul and Virginia. 

" Certainly I have," was the reply ; " why do you ask ?" 

"Because," was the reply, "its author, Bernardin de Saint -Pierre, 
was born at Havre, and we will go now and see the statue which the 
city has raised to his memory." 

The girl was ready on the instant, but Frank checked her impetuos- 
ity by asking if she knew how long ago the famous story was written. 

" I don't know exactly," was the reply, " but think it was a hundred 
years at least." 

" You have guessed pretty closely," said Frank. "Paul and Vir- 
ginia was published in 1789, and attained great popularity at once. It 
has been pronounced by many critics the finest literary production in 
the French language, and some have gone so far as to call it the finest 
in the world. It has been translated and published all through Europe 
and America, and in recent years it has been rendered into Japanese and 
some other Oriental tongues." 

On their way to the statue Frank further said that the author of 
Paid and Virginia was of an erratic disposition, that he entered the 
army soon after completing his studies at the military college, but was 
dismissed in the course of a year or two for insubordination. Then he 
lived four years in Russia as a civil engineer. Returning to his own 
country, he obtained an appointment to the Isle of France, where the 
scene of his famous story is laid. Then he came back to France and 
devoted himself to literature until his death in 1814. He named his 
two children Paul and Virginia, after the characters in the romance. 

Mary wrote the following description of the statue : 

"It represents Bernardin de Saint -Pierre seated, with a pen in his 
right hand, which rests on his knee. In the other hand is a manuscript 
on which we could read the words, ''Paid et VirginieS He is dressed 
in the costume of his time, and his fine head is bent slightly forward. 
At his feet are two children with clasped hands, sleeping under a trop- 
ical plant. It is hardly necessary to say that they are the hero and 
heroine of the narrative." 

" I would like to see some of the old buildings of Havre," said Mrs. 
Bassett as the party turned away from the inspection of the statue of 
Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. 

Frank asked the coachman to take them to some of the most vener- 
able structures, if any there were. 



AN ANCIENT EDIFICE. 



43 



The driver nodded assent, and drove to a building which certainly- 
had a very old appearance. On its front was the date " 1520." Rudely 
carved on a stone over the door were the figures of a boatman and a 
man on horseback. 

Mrs. Bassett regarded the figures with a good deal of interest, and 
then asked what they meant. 

" The house was originally a hotel," the driver explained, his words 
being translated by Frank for Mrs. Bassett's benefit. " The boatman 
and horseman indicate that there was accommodation for travellers who 
came in the only modes of travel known at the time, with the possible 
exception of walking." 

" If the hotels of Havre at the present time followed the same cus- 
toms in their signs," Fred remarked, " they would have the picture of a 




TRAVEL BY WATER OLD "WAYS AND NEW. 



railway train and a steamer. The railway has taken the place of the 
saddle-horse, and the steamer is a great improvement on the rude cara- 
vel of the sixteenth century. 

" Men come and go by water as they did three or four centuries ago," 
added Frank, " but their means of travel are vastly different." 



44 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

The walls of the old city are gone, and there are very few traces of 
the work of Francois I. Down to 1863 the Tower of Francois I. re- 
mained, but the march of improvement swept it away during that year. 
One of the best preserved of the old buildings is the Marine Arsenal, 
which was erected in 1669, and bears on its front the names of Jean 
Bart, Duquesne, Tourville, Jacques Cartier, and other famous navigat- 
ors of France. The Government Tobacco Factory is a large building, 
where John Law, of South Sea Bubble fame, wished to establish a mint 
for coining the money to be made in his speculations. 

At the mention of the South Sea Bubble, Mary asked Frank to tell 
her about it ; she had heard it mentioned before, and wished to know 
what it was and when the bubble was blown. 

" It is a long story," Frank answered, " but I will try to put it in a 
few words. John Law was a Scotchman, who was born in 1671. He 
went to London about 1694, where he supported himself by gaming, 
and after killing a man in a duel he fled to France. About 1715 he per- 
suaded the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, to give him a charter for 
a bank, and also a monopoly of French trade with America, China, In- 
dia, and the rest of the world, wherever trading could be made profita- 
ble. The bank was known as Law & Company, and the trading monop- 
oly as the Mississippi Company. The shares were eagerly sought by the 
public, and rose to twenty times their value. Law was made Prime- 
minister of France in 1720, but in the same year his schemes collapsed 
and the shares in his companies became worthless. He fled from France, 
and died in poverty in Yenice a few years later." 

" But what had he to do with the South Sea Bubble ?" Mrs. Bassett 
asked, as Frank paused. 

" Law's banking and trading scheme was called a bubble on account 
of its brilliancy in the early part of its career and the suddenness with 
which it burst into nothing," was the reply. "While his Mississippi 
Company was rising to notice in France, the South Sea Company, for 
the purpose of trade in the South Seas, was organized in England ; both 
of these speculations went to pieces about the same time, involving 
thousands of stockholders in ruin." 

" The wildest speculations of modern times," said Doctor Bronson, 
" are of a very tame character compared with the excitement over the 
bubble companies of John Law and other schemers. For days and 
days together the street where Law had his office was blocked with 
people on foot or in carriages, waiting their turns to subscribe for 
shares, and pay their money. The excitement spread all over Europe, 



JOHN LAW AND THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 



45 



Actieuse NACHT-WIND-Zail 



and at one time it was estimated that there were five hundred thou- 
sand strangers in Paris who had come there for the purpose of specu- 
lating. Fortunes were made and lost daily, but the ultimate result of 
the speculation was a loss to nearly every one concerned. 

" While the speculation was going on," the Doctor continued, " a 
great many caricatures 
were published in which 
Law's schemes were 
held up to ridicule. 
One of them represents 
Law seated on the edge 
of a blast of wind, hold- 
ing a string attached 
to several bubbles above 
him, and throwing out 
bank-notes that seem to 
come from a cloud near 
his hand. On the top 
of his hat is a wind- 
mill, and below him are 
the words : ' The wind 
is my treasure, cushion, 
and fountain.' Anoth- 
er caricature represents 
him as a night - crier 
with a magic-lantern on 
his back, and calling 
out, ' Shares ! shares ! 
shares !' as he goes 
along the street." 

The talk about Law and the speculations of his times was suddenly 
interrupted by Mrs. Bassett calling attention to some queer -looking 
wood piled on the quay near the Bassin du Commerce, and asking what 
kind of timber it was. 

"That is logwood," said the Doctor; "and it is used for dyeing 
cloth, leather, and other things." 

" I have heard that it is used to give the proper tint to red wine." 
Frank remarked, with a smile. 

"I have heard so, too," the Doctor answered; "and though the 
statement is denied by the wine - dealers, I am very much inclined to 




CARICATURE OF JOHN LAW AMSTERDAM, 1720. 



46 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

believe it. It has been made to me by gentlemen in whose veracity I 
have every confidence, and there was no reason why they should un- 
dertake to deceive me. The statement was that about one-third of the 
logwood imported into France was used for coloring wines, the other 
two -thirds being used for dyeing cloth, leather, and kindred articles. 
My informants said that a great quantity of the lowest grades of 
French red wine is artificially colored. Red wine of pure manufacture 
is dearer than Avhite wine, and so the enterprising dealer makes use of 
logwood both for color and flavor." 

" How do they get the color out of the wood and into the wine ?" 
Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" The wood is ground in a mill very much like the mill used by 
tanners for grinding bark ; the dust is then mixed with ordinary white 
wine in a vat, and allowed to remain there for a week, the contents 
of the vat being stirred every few hours, so that the wine may come 
as much as possible in contact with the wood -dust. The coloring- 
matter gives the proper tint, while the astringent quality of the wood 
gives the ' puckery ' taste that is often apparent in cheap wines, and 
is not at all disagreeable to a great many drinkers. At the end of a 
week the dust is allowed to settle to the bottom of the vat, and then 
the wine is drawn off through a fine strainer into casks and is ready 
to be bottled and sent to market." 

"Isn't it possible that the red noses of many wine -drinkers are 
caused by the logwood in the wine?" was the next query of Mrs. 
Bassett when the Doctor paused. 

" That is a scientific question I will not attempt to answer," was 
the reply, " any more than to explain why a great quantity of Ameri- 
can cider is imported into Havre and Rouen every year, although Nor- 
mandy is famous for the large quantity and fine quality of the cider 
it produces. My French friend who told me about the logwood in 
wine coloring says the American cider can be made into champagne 
better than can the Normandy cider, and the most of the imported 
article is sent back to America in the shape of champagne wine." 

When our friends had exhausted their curiosity respecting Havre 
and its vicinity, they went to Trouville by the steamboat that runs 
twice daily each way, the departures being fixed for the time of high 
tide. They had a pleasant run of about two hours, crossing the mouth 
of the Seine, which is here enlarged into a bay, and having a view of 
Honfleur, which was once an important port, but is now little better 
than a fishing town. It has a few factories and ship-yards, but its 



HONFLEUR AND ITS HISTORY 



47 



foreign trade has diminished to the shipment of eggs and other farming 
products to the nearest ports of Great Britain. It was for a long time 
in the hands of the English, and holds a prominent place in the history 
of the wars of England and France in past centuries. Some of the 
founders of Quebec in Canada were from Honfleur, and at one time its 
mariners were to be found on all the oceans and seas of the globe. 




MENDING NETS AT LOW TIDE. 



48 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Mention of Honfleur and its history led to some questions relative 
to the French settlement of the New World. 

Doctor Bronson recalled the circumstance that in 1493 the Pope 




LANDING OF A FRENCH EXPEDITION IN THE NEW WORLD. [From an old pvint.] 



issued an edict under which Spain and Portugal undertook to divide 
between them all the unexplored portions of the world. According to 
Bernal Diaz, the Spanish historian, " the King of France sent word to 
our great Emperor that as he and the King of Portugal had divided 
the earth between themselves without giving him a share of it, he 
should like them to show him our father Adam's will in order to know 
if he had made them his sole heirs." The King of France intimated 
that he should feel quite free to possess himself of all he could upon 
the ocean in all parts of the globe. 

"Not only did the French king claim wha.t he could find on the 
water," said Doctor Bronson, " but he proceeded to annex the land to 
his dominions without troubling himself about the views of anybody 
else. Some of the maps and globes of the sixteenth century contain 
the name ' New France ' on a large part of the American Continent, 



FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA. 



49 



and there is one map (by Ortelius, in 1572) on which New France in- 
cludes the whole of North and South America. 

" One of the earliest explorers of the American Continent," he con- 
tinued, " was Jacques Cartier, who was the first white man to navigate 
the St. Lawrence River, which he ascended to where Montreal now 
stands just below the Lachine Rapids." 

" Any one who visits Montreal is sure to be reminded of him," Mrs. 
Bassett remarked. "They have street, square, landing-place, and I 
don't know what else named after him; and as if those were not 
enough, they call their cabmen ' carters,' probably an abbreviation of 
' Cartiers.' " 

A laugh followed her effort at punning. When it subsided, the 
Doctor made some further remarks about the colonization of America by 
the French, and the subse- 
quent loss by France of 
nearly all her possessions 
on the western shores of 
the Atlantic. Then, as 
the boat was nearing 
Trouville, the past was 
dropped for the present, 
and the voyageurs of the 
sixteenth century gave 
place to the more mod- 
ern voyageurs, whose 
steps ordinarily go no 
farther than Trouville 
or to her fashionable re- 
sorts along the French 
coast. 

With a glass Mary 
scanned the slope just 
back of Trouville, and 
presently made out a 
group of people lounging 
there and contemplat- 
ing the approaching 
boat. They were too far 

off for personal identification, but she looked closely at the group, think- 
ing it possible that the party might be some acquaintances of theirs 

4 




JACQUES CARTIER. 



50 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



from Havre, who had gone to Trouville the day before and promised 
to meet them there. " They said they would look out for us," said 
Mary to her brother, "and they are the only people I can see who 
are literally i looking out.' " 




ON THE LOOKOUT AT TROUVILLE. 



But she was wrong, as there is always a crowd more or less numer- 
ous at the landing-place of the steamboat when it arrives from Havre. 
Trouville is not unlike other watering-places the world over, in the 
circumstance that many of the visitors have a great deal of idle time 
on their hands, and are glad of an excuse to use it up. They go to 
meet the boats, although not expecting any friends to arrive by them, 
and welcome any distraction, however trivial. 

The courier from the hotel our friends had chosen was put in charge 
of their baggage, and the Doctor suggested that the distance was so 
short and the day so pleasant that it would be more agreeable to walk 
than to ride. So our friends strolled along in the direction of the hotel, 
no guide being needed, as the Doctor had been there before. 

That Trouville is a pleasure resort was apparent at the first glance. 
There is an old town with venerable edifices, but it is completely eclipsed 
by the new town, which has grown up since the place became a fashion- 
able resort. Great hotels, and small ones, too, with numerous boarding- 
houses and private residences, have sprung up, and to their number must 
be added the Casino, with its varied facilities for amusing the visitors. 



SCENES AT TROUVILLE. 51 

Carriages of all grades and kinds roll along the streets and roads, and 
for those who prefer the saddle in taking their exercise there are horses 
and donkeys. Mrs. Bassett remarked later on that all the donkeys at 
Trouville were not quadrupedal, her observation being called out by the 
assemblage in the gaming-rooms at the Casino and the manner in which 
the money of the visitors went with unfailing certainty into the hands 
of the keepers of the game. 

To Fred was assigned the duty of keeping the journal of what they 
saw and did at Trouville, and we are permitted to make a few extracts 
from his notes. It is proper to remark that he w T as assisted by Frank 
and Mary, who called attention to various matters which he might have 
omitted without their aid. 

" Geographically," wrote Fred, " Trouville is in the department of 
Calvados. I don't know that any one of us has yet made note of the 
fact that France is divided into departements which are the equivalent 
of counties in England or the United States, though considerably larger 
than counties are with us. There are 87 departments altogether, and 
they are subdivided into 362 arrondisements, 2865 cantons, and 35,989 
communes. I'll tell you more on this subject later on. Let us stick to 
Trouville for the present and leave other matters alone. 

" Like a great many other watering-places, Trouville came into notice 
rather suddenly, and its prominence was brought about by some French 
artists and men of letters w T ho came here to spend the summer, paint the 
scenery, and describe it in books. When its attractions became known 
other artists and writers came along, and very soon the general public 
followed. The story of Trouville has been repeated on our side of the 
water by the stories of Bar Harbor, Long Branch, Atlantic City, and 
other well-known and popular resorts. Everybody comes to Trouville 
because everybody else does. 

" There are many English people here, and w r e are told that they come 
early in the season and stay late. The season at Trouville begins about 
the middle of June and closes soon after October 1st. French people of 
fashion would not be seen here before the opening or after the close, 
as they would consider their characters ruined by doing anything so 
much out of the common course of things. A considerable number of 
visitors are those who travel w 7 ith the hillet-cireidaire, or circular ticket, 
which enables the traveller to visit several cities and points on the coast 
within a certain specified time. As the holder of a circular ticket wants 
to see as many places as possible, he can only afford a day or two to each 
point where he stops off from the railway train. The circular ticket is 



52 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

by no means unknown in America ; neither is the circular tourist and 
his ways, as every hotel-keeper can testify. 

" The scene in general reminds me of much that we saw at Frascati's, 
which may be taken as a miniature edition of Trouville. But Frascati 
cannot compare with Trouville in its beach, which is of the softest sand 
that the bather could wish for to walk upon with his bare feet. There 
is no need of bathing-shoes here, but fashion prescribes them. The style 
of bathing-shoe worn at Trouville is a linen gaiter with the front cut 
away and lacing around the ankle. Every traveller is supposed to carry 
them in his baggage, but any one who comes here without them may 
find an abundance in the shops or at the bathing-houses. 

" Bathing may take place at any hour, but the proper time for it is at 
high tide, provided it does not interfere with dinner or some other en- 
tertainment of a practical character. Then everybody goes to the beach, 
either to bathe or gaze at the bathers, or upon other people who don't 
go into the water. The non-bathers are far more numerous than those 
who dip into the sea, and of those who venture upon bathing there is 
only a small proportion who can swim. And now a word as to the 
bathing-dresses which are the fashion here. 

" Trousers and jacket, the latter gathered in at the waist, compose 
the feminine costume of Trouville, together with an oilskin cap to keep 
the hair dry, and Amelias (as the linen slippers, or gaiters, are called) for 
protection to the feet. (Mary says I must say 'basque' instead of 
jacket, and then it will be better understood by feminine readers. Well, 
then, here goes for basque.) 

"Some of the bathing-dresses are elaborately ornamented, while 
others are plain enough to satisfy a Quaker of the time of Roger Will- 
iams. Occasionally you see an American woman with a dress of the 
style in vogue at Newport or Bar Harbor, and we are told that a few of 
the French visitors have copied it. But the fashion is not likely to 
change, as the company that owns the bathing-houses has a large stock 
on hand of the old pattern, and you can readily understand that the 
views of the managers will be conservative. 

" Everything is done by rule here, and if you want to do as you 
please your only course will be to please to do as the regulations require. 
The ' bureau ' looks after everything, and when you want a bath you 
must begin at the bureau by buying the needed tickets. I say tickets, 
because there are several things for which you must pay, and each pay- 
ment requires a ticket. There is the simple bath, the bath with a cabin, 
and the lain de luxe • then there is the costume (the peignoir), towels, 



54 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



head-dress, slippers, the haigneur (whose occupations were described at 
Havre), the master or mistress of the baths, together with a variety of 
extras and supplementary things. Doctor Bronson says he is reminded 
of the hotel somewhere along the Missouri Kiver which required the 
traveller to pay three dollars a day, with meals and lodging extra. The 
bathing-cabins are on wheels, so that they can be moved to suit the tide ; 
and though you pay by ticket for the cabin, the driver of the horse that 
moves your cabin expects a gratuity for the service. If the horse had 
been educated up to the ability to demand a gratuity, you may be sure 
he would have exacted it before we left him. 

" The part of the beach allotted to bathers is divided into three parts 
by means of cables that run far out into the water. The middle 
section is for families, and on either side of it are the sections for 
women or men exclusively. Out in front of each section is a boat se- 
curely anchored, and each boat has steps which hang over the stern a 

foot or more into 
the water. The 
swimmers go out 
to these boats, 
which are in 
charge of skilful 
baigne urs, and 
they may have 
instruction in the 
art of swimming 
if they desire it, 
though necessari- 
ly the lessons will 
be short. 

" We have had 
our share of fun, 
sitting on the 
beach and watch- 
ing the bathers. 
There are fewer 



AMATEUR SHRIMPERS. 



swimmers among 
them than you 
will see in the 
bathing assem- 
blages at an 




ON THE BEACH. 55 

American sea-side resort, and many of those who are able to swim do 
so very awkwardly. They flounder around like porpoises — no, not 
like porpoises, because those denizens of the deep are graceful and know 
how to take care of themselves, and such is not the case with the people 
we are considering. 

" Yesterday two women who wanted to display their abilities in bath- 
ing created a scene by losing control of themselves, screaming loudly, 
swallowing a quantity of salt-water, and running quite a risk of being 
strangled. The baigneurs seized them and brought them up to the shore 
as soon as possible. One of the women fainted, and the other became 
hysterical and kept on screaming after she had been stretched on the 
sand. Both were liberally drenched with water from buckets, which 
stopped the shrieks of the hysterical one and brought the other to her 
senses. Then they were hurried off to their cabins, where the attendants 
bathed their feet in hot water and helped them assume their ordinary 
apparel. As Byron says, 'Both were young, and one was beautiful.' 
Fortunately they were light in weight, or they would have been some- 
what difficult for the baigneurs to manage. 

" There is a delightful stretch of beach for walking, and for children 
and dogs to play upon when the tide is out. When the beach happens 
to be uncovered on a warm afternoon all the visiting population of Trou- 
ville seems to be gathered there. The older ones saunter about, young 
people and middle-aged ones play at croquet, children romp and have a 
thoroughly 'good time,' and the dogs accompany them in their romp- 
ings, unless they happen to belong to adult and dignified persons, whom 
they are obliged to follow demurely. Some of the young people are in 
their bathing-dresses, and wander about in the pools armed with nets 
and baskets for the purpose of catching shrimps. ' We don't get many 
shrimps,' said an English girl to Mary yesterday, ' but there's a great 
deal of fun in trying to catch them.' 

" Mrs. Bassett and Mary were anxious to see the fashionable prome- 
nade where people come to see and be seen, especially the latter. Most 
of the women are well dressed — better, Mary says, than the men, whose 
clothes do not seem to fit well. Many of the costumes are such as the 
owners would hardly be likely to wear in Paris on account of their 
' loudness,' but there is a freedom of taste here as at the majority of 
sea-side resorts the world over. The varieties of color displayed in the 
dresses and hats and ribbons of the women might almost rouse the envy 
of a kaleidoscope ; but while there is great variety, everything is har- 
monious and shows the good taste of the French. 



56 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




THE PROMENADE. 



" We have strolled about with the promenaders, and we have sat on 
the benches and looked at them as they drifted by. Doctor Bronson 
says it is like looking at the throng on the Boulevard des Italiens, in 
front of the Cafe de la Paix, on a pleasant afternoon. All Paris seems 
to have come here for amusement ; and an American whom we met here, 
and who has lived in Paris for several }^ears, has pointed out to us a good 
many of the people whose names are more or less familiar to us. There 
are statesmen, politicians, editors, authors, artists, actresses, men and 
women with titles — some with ancestry running back for centuries, and 
others whose nobility is very recent — merchants, bankers, and so on 



A MIXED POPULATION. 



57 



through a long list. Then there are people from all parts of France and 
from other countries of Europe. As I said at the beginning, there are 
many English who spend the summer here, and we are never many min- 
utes without hearing the language of the kingdom across the Channel." 




SUNDAY MORNING IN NORMANDY. 



58 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE CHILDREN'S BALL AT THE CASINO OF TROUVILLE.— ADVANTAGES OF EARLY 
TRAINING IN POLITENESS— GAMING AT THE CASINO.— CO URRIERS AND LES 
PETITS CHEVAUX.— SCENES IN THE GAMING-ROOMS— DEAUVILLE ; ITS ORI- 
GIN AND HISTORY.— DUKE DE MORNY— TROUVILLE RACES.— VIEWS OF THE 
RACING-GROUNDS AND INCIDENTS OF THE RACES.— COSTUMES OF THE BELLES. 
—ENGLISH VISITORS AND THEIR WAGERS.— POOL-SELLING.— VISIT TO THE CAS- 
TLE OF BONNEVILLE.— REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.— HOW 
HE INVADED ENGLAND.— BATTLE OF HASTINGS AND DEATH OF HAROLD.— 
DIVES AND CAEN.— A NORMAN FUNERAL.— ROUEN.— THE CATHEDRAL.— MRS 
BASSETT'S MISTAKE.— RICHARD THE LION-HE ARTED.— MUSEUM OF ANTIQUI- 
TIES AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE. 

" ^^EOUVILLE does not> go to bed early," continued Fred, " as you 
-*- would readily understand by visiting the Casino. It is a spa- 
cious building, and 
Trouville without 
the Casino would 
be like " Hamlet " 
without Hamlet. 

"One of the 
most interesting 
sights of the Ca- 
sino is the Bat 
& Enfants (Chil- 
dren's Ball), which 
takes plac e be- 
tween eight and 
nine o'clock every 
evening. Some of 
the children are 
dressed in all the finery their mothers can place upon them, while others 
are in the flannel suits they have worn all day, and which they cannot 
injure at all by rolling in the sand or getting an occasional wetting. 
But whether plainly or gayly dressed, they conduct themselves with 




s// 



THE WINDLASS. 



GAMBLING AT TROUVILLE. 59 

much more propriety than would the same number of American chil- 
dren under similar circumstances. The rules of the ball-room are 
carefully observed, and the boys bow to the girls and the girls to the 
boys as though they were members of the court of a kingly palace. 
Doctor Bronson says that a great deal of the French polish of manner 
comes from the early training they receive, and one can realize this very 
forcibly as he looks on at the Bob d/Enfants at Trouville." 

Mrs. Bassett was delighted with the Children's Ball, and thought it 
would be an excellent feature of American watering-places. But her 
opinion was quite the reverse as to the scenes in the Salle de Petit Jeux, 
where chances were sold on the races which are run by miniature horses 
and miniature couriers. She observed, with considerable shock to her 
sense of propriety, that the attendance was large, and also that the sport 
was very exciting to all concerned. 

The game of courriers and petits chevaux may be thus described : 

Little figures representing runners, and mounted on wheels which 
follow channels or grooves especially made for them, are set in motion 
along a large table, and the figure, or courrier, that comes nearest to a 
goal near the farther end of the table wins the sum total of the bets, 
after deducting a certain amount for the keeper of the game. Of course 
every one must make a wager, and the money is handed over to the 
keeper before the courriers are set in motion. All sorts and conditions 
of men and women indulge in the game, and a considerable amount of 
money changes hands every evening. 

The course des petits chevaux is more exciting, and consequently more 
popular than the one just described, and the crowd at the end of the 
room devoted to it is much larger and far more noisy than the one 
around the table of the courriers. We will let Frank describe the table 
and the scene. 

" The table is circular," wrote Frank, " and is covered with concen- 
tric circles of strips of brass or other material two or three inches apart. 
On each of these strips a miniature horse runs with a jockey upon his 
back. The coats of the jockeys are in different colors, so as to facilitate 
the process of betting. It is a circular race-track in miniature. Before 
each race the horses are placed in line in front of the starting-point, and 
when all is ready a lever is pulled to set them in motion. 

" There are rows of raised benches where the players sit, and there 
is standing-room behind them for spectators, who very often become 
players and pass their money over the heads of the more fortunate ones 
in front. The keepers of the game sell chances for one or two francs 



60 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



each on the horses, and the management always reserves one horse for 
itself. "When all is ready, the lever is pulled and the horses are started ; 
round and round they go at high speed, then the speed slackens, one 
horse stops, then another and another until all have come to a halt. The 
horse that stops nearest the goal wins the race, and as soon as the result 




TABLE OF THE " COURRIERS." 



is decided the money is distributed. The majority of the people present 
are more or less excited, and there is a great deal of shouting and ges- 
ticulating. The most exciting time of the race is when the speed of the 
horses slackens and a decision of the momentous question is close at 
hand. There are quite as many women as men in the crowd, and not 
a few of the women are accompanied by children, who are allowed to 
wager their money on the game. 



DEAUVILLE AND DUKE DE MORNY. 61 

" There are races of real horses at Trouville on certain days of the 
season, and they attract great numbers of people. To reach the race- 
track it is necessary to go to Deauville, which may be regarded as an 
extension of Trouville along the sea-shore. Deauville was the result of 
a speculation which was started by the Duke de Morny when at the 
height of his power, and he had no difficulty in securing the capital 
needed for his enterprise. His idea was to create an aristocratic resort, 
where those who wished to pass the hot months at the sea-side could 
avoid the contagion of the crowd at Trouville, and at the same time 
have suitable society around them. Handsome houses were built in 
goodly number, streets and avenues were laid out, and for a while Deau- 
ville prospered. But the death of the duke in 1865, and the fall of the 
empire a few years later, brought grief to the new city, and since then 
it has had a struggle for existence. 

" We saw the pedestal on which once stood the statue of the duke. 
The pedestal with nothing upon it is a symbol of the changes of the 
times : the republic caused the statue to be removed, and if it has not 
been destroyed it is stored away somewhere to await the possible day 
when the Napoleonic dynasty shall again take part in the affairs of the 
nation." 

"What did the Duke de Morny have to do with the Napoleons?" 
Mrs. Bassett asked, when Frank made the above remark. 

" He was the half-brother of Louis Napoleon, the last emperor of 
France," Frank replied ; " and while Napoleon III. occupied the throne 
the duke was in high favor. Consequently, it was easy for him to found 
a town like this in the prosperous times of the empire." 

" I understand now," said Mrs. Bassett, " and I can understand how 
the fall of the empire was pretty certain to ruin the speculation by 
ruining the speculators." 

When they reached the race-ground Mrs. Bassett was surprised to 
find that there was no track at all, and she did not understand the situa- 
tion until Frank explained that the running was done on the turf, which 
many horsemen prefer to a dirt road. The racing-ground is a level area, 
and at one side there is a fine grove of trees, where the pesage or weigh- 
ing-stand is placed. The pesage contains several handsome buildings, 
and evidently the men who designed the racing-ground were not lacking 
in good taste nor in the money necessary to carry out their designs. 

Frank secured places for his party in the grand-stand, which is so 
situated that the occupants have the sun at their backs in the afternoon, 
the time when all the races come off. The stand is on a small elevation 



62 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



of ground, so that the whole sweep of the plain is in full view, together 
with the cliffs beyond it and a church, which presents a fine outline 
against the sky. 

Our friends were on the ground 
early, as they wished to study the ^ 
crowds of visitors much more than 
to see the horses run. The} 1 " had 
an abundant opportu- 
nity, as the assemblage 
seemed to include 



if 




AT THE RACES OF TROUVILLE. 



COSTUMES AND POOLS. 63 

everybody in Trouville and all the country around for a considerable 
distance. Mrs. Bassett remarked that it was a happy, well-behaved 
crowd, and everybody seemed to have a regard for the rights of others 
while enjoying himself thoroughly. 

Mary had a sharp eye for feminine costume, and she made note of 
some that were certainly quite eccentric, both in the material employed 
and the manner in which it was cut and made. Some dresses had an 
astonishing amount of embroidery upon them, and some were in glaring- 
colors. One dress which she specially noted had a series of rainbows, 
which ran downward diagonally from the right shoulder of the wearer, 
and suggested at a little distance a barber's pole endowed with anima- 
tion and locomotion. Another was embroidered all over with figures of 
animals of various kinds, and Mrs. Bassett suggested that the woman 
who wore it might be the perambulating advertisement of a menagerie. 

Everybody seemed to bet on the races, and the women were just as 
active as the men in placing their money on the different horses and in 
demonstrating their knowledge of the animals on the list. Mam r of 
them showed that they knew of what they were talking, and when their 
favorites were defeated they vented their anger quite as energetically 
as did the sterner sex, and became just as excited over the events of 
the races, especially when not on the winning side. 

Some English people who were seated near our friends wagered their 
money after the general custom ; at the end of each race they speedily 
disappeared from their places to " go to the pools," as they expressed it. 
Mrs. Bassett wondered where these bodies of water were, and she asked 
Frank if there were boat-races on the pools between the equine trials of 
speed, or if they only went there to quench their thirst. 

Frank explained that the name was applied to a system of betting 
or wagering money on the races, and that the temporary absence of 
their English neighbors was in order to collect their winnings, if any, 
and to make wagers on the next race to follow. 

"The pools are what they call the Paris-mutuals, are they not?" 
Mary asked. " I suppose they were invented in Paris ; at any rate, that 
is what the name indicates." 

" That is what a great many people in America believe," said Frank, 
" but the name is, in a certain sense, misleading. It is true that the 
system was imported into America from Paris, but the real name of it 
is paris-mutuels (mutual bets). The French word pari means a bet or 
wager ; mutuel and mutual have the same meaning in the languages to 
which they respectively belong." 



6i THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



COSTUMKS OF THE NATIVES. 



At each of the races there was a shout as the horses started, and a 
great deal of excitement all through to the finish. Those who had 
money wagered upon the result were in a quiver of anxiety, the demon- 
stration of it being in proportion to the amount depending upon the 
race. Our friends were probably the leastexcited individuals in all the 
assemblage, and Mrs. Bassett said it was because they were probably the 
only visitors who had not bathed in the pools. A gentleman in front 
of them had placed several napoleons on the horse Moufflon, and as the 



A NORMANDY LANDSCAPE. 



65 



race ended Moufflon appeared to be at the head of the group. The man 
danced about with joy; but his joy was changed to sorrow when the 
signal from the judges' stand showed that the race was " off," and must 
be run over again. When the second run was made Moufflon was left 
behind, and the unhappy Frenchman had to bite his lip to prevent its 
revealing his grief by drooping to his chin. 

The day after the races the party took a drive into the interior to 
visit several points and places of interest. The roads are delightful, and 
at every step presented the attractions of Normandy, in the shape of 
venerated churches, thatched cottages, old chateaux — some in ruins and 
others carefully kept and cared for — well-tilled fields, luxuriant pastures, 
patches and stretches of forest, sleek cattle and horses, and everywhere 
the peasants in the costume which has been unchanged for a very long 
time and shows no sign of changing. 

The place of greatest historical interest visited on this excursion was 




READY FOR THE RACE. 



66 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the Chateau of Bonneville. Learning the evening before that they were 
to see it, Mary took pains to acquaint herself with its history ; conse- 
quently, when Frank asked her about it, she was ready with her answer. 

" It was the castle of Duke Eobert of Normandy, the father -of 
William the Conqueror," said Mary, " and therefore must be at least a 
thousand years old." 

"It certainly looks it," said Mrs. Bassett, as she regarded the ivy- 
grown walls where the history of England under the rule of the Nor- 
mans may be said to have begun. 

"William the Conqueror was born in the year 1025," continued 
Mary, " and succeeded his father in 1035. The historians say that he 
gained the favor of his kinsman, Edward the Confessor, King of Eng- 
land, and as Edward had no children, he secretly agreed to make Will- 
iam his heir. The people of England preferred Harold, a Saxon prince, 
and on the death of Edward, in 1066, Harold ascended the throne with- 
out opposition on the part of anybody." 

" A very good account of the situation as it existed before the in- 
vasion," said Frank. " And now tell us what William did when he 
heard Harold was on the throne." 

" William was angry, as he had not only the promise of Edward 
that he should succeed him, but it seems that Harold had visited Will- 
iam not long before, and promised not to stand in his way, and even to 
help him to what he wanted. When he was afterwards reminded of 
his promise, he said it was forced from him when he was in William's 
power, and he did not therefore regard it as binding." 

" I think he was right," said Mrs. Bassett. " But he was a simpleton 
to venture into William's dominions, and so place himself where he 
would be forced to swear to such a promise or lose his liberty and life." 

" So I thought," Mary responded, "and probably Harold thought so 
when it was too late." 

" William determined to have his way," she continued. " He assem- 
bled a fleet of three thousand vessels, and an army of sixty thousand 
men at Dives. Are we going to Dives % I want to see the place where 
the army assembled for the invasion of England." 

" Yes," replied Frank, " we are going there, but you will not find a 
great deal to interest you. The harbor has been filled up by the drift- 
ing sand, and the business of the place from a marine point of view has 
been transferred to Cobourg close by." 

We may remark that our friends found Dives a curious old town, 
with a hotel bearing the high-sounding name of William the Conqueror, 



THE CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. 



67 



and an old church in which are inscribed the names of the Norman 
barons and other noblemen of distinction, who accompanied William 
on his voyage to England. There is a monument near the town to com- 
memorate the invasion, but it is of modern construction, and therefore 
has no great interest to the student of history. 

" The voyage of William the Conqueror across the Channel," con- 




SHIPS OF THE TIME OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 



tinued Mary, " was by no means a pleasant one. When he set out from 
Dives a storm arose, and he was forced to put into Saint- Valery, which 
he reached with a part of his fleet. Many of his ships were wrecked, 
and the coast is said to have been strewn with drowned men. Some of 
the soldiers became discouraged, but William managed to keep his army 
from breaking up, and set sail once more. His second attempt was suc- 
cessful ; he landed on the coast of Sussex, defeated the English at Hast- 
ings, killed his rival, Harold, and on Christmas Day of the same year he 
was crowned King of England." 

" Thank you very much," said Mrs. Bassett, as Mary paused at the 
end of her story. "I don't believe there are many American girls in 



68 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

school or out of it who can tell as much about the Norman conquest of 
England," she added, with a glance of pride at her daughter. 

" I couldn't have told as much two days ago," Mary answered, " and 
it was only the circumstance that we were to visit the Chateau of 
Bonneville that made me look it up. The most interesting way to 
study history is at the scene of the events that it records." 

No one is likely to dispute the correctness of this assertion, nor did 
any one of the party do so on that occasion. Mary added that if any 
one wished to read about the effect of the Norman conquest upon Eng- 
land and what happened afterwards, she would advise a perusal of The 
Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland. 

From Trouville our friends went in the direction of Paris. At first 
it was proposed to ascend the Seine by steamboat, so as to study the 
scenery of the river; but it was ascertained on investigation that the 
journey was likely to be tedious, owing to the sameness of the sights on 
the banks of the Seine, and the long time required for the journey. 

Mrs. Bassett heard that William the Conqueror was buried at Caen, 
about twenty-five miles from Trouville, and she suggested that it might 
be worth their while to visit the place of his sepulture. Frank ex- 
plained to her that the grave of the famous warrior was indeed at Caen, 
but it had long been empty. 

"Three hundred and odd years ago," said Frank, "the Huguenots 
destroyed the monument that had been erected by William Rufus, and 
then tore open the grave and scattered the bones. Only one of them 
was recovered ; it was restored to the grave, where it lay two hundred 
and fifty years, when the tomb was again violated by the Kevolutionists 
of 1793, and the last relic disappeared." 

So it was concluded not to visit Caen and its ancient churches, but 
to take the train for Rouen from the station at Trouville. 

A final drive before saying farewell to the coast was taken along 
the Yillersville road and back into the country. While our friends 
were passing a church they saw a funeral procession coming out of it, 
and moving in the direction of the cemetery. Frank ordered the driver 
to halt the carriage, in order that they might witness the ceremony of 
interment as performed in Normandy. 

The Norman peasants are Catholics, and the service witnessed by 
the party was that of the Catholic Church. The sobbing of the 
mourners was so loud that it almost drowned the voice of the priest as 
he read from the open book before him the ritual for the burial of the 
dead. Candles and tapers were carried in accordance with long estab- 




A FISHERMAN OF COBOURG. 



70 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

lished custom ; and the sexton stood near by leaning on his spade, and 
waiting for the departure of the little cortege to allow him to complete 
his work by filling the grave he had made. 

The railway train whirled them rapidly to Rouen, and came to a 
halt in the underground station with which many travellers are familiar. 
The line of the railway near Rouen and in the city is a work of great 
engineering skill. Rouen is on and among hills, and the railway fine is 
tunnelled for a considerable distance through these hills. The station 
lies between two tunnels, and in a deep cutting which was made at no 
small expense. The railway is one of the oldest in France, having been 
completed in 1843 ; it was built by a combination of French and English 
capitalists, and the engineers and many of the workmen were English. 

" I'm ever so glad you arranged to stop at Rouen," said Mrs. Bassett 
just before they reached the station. " I wanted very much to see the 
city, but was afraid we might miss it." 

" And why should we miss it ?" queried Frank. " It lies directly on 
the route between Havre and Paris, is a convenient stopping-place, and 
is one of the oldest and most interesting cities of France. It has been 
prominent in history for many centuries, and is certainly one of the last 
places in the world to be neglected. Besides being an old city, it is an 
active and well-populated one. Nearly all the old cities of the world 
have seen their best days, and are now in a state of decline ; but no one 
can say this of Rouen. It is a great seat of manufactures ; in fact, it is 
the leading place of France in the cotton industry, and has been called 
' The Manchester of the Republic' It is the head of navigation for 
sailing-vessels on the Seine, and you will see a great number of ships 
at the quays. 

" The Romans had a city and fort here," continued Frank, " and they 
called it Rotomagus. Traces of the Roman occupation may still be seen, 
and are interesting to antiquarians, but to the ordinary traveller they 
are of less consequence than the churches and the monument that marks 
the spot where Joan of Arc was burned to death." 

" Shall we go there before we see anything else ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" We will include it in our round of sight-seeing," was the reply ; 
" and when we get to the Place de la Pucelle, where the monument 
stands, Mary will tell us something about the girl whose name is famous 
in the history of France. 

" The traveller's steps are usually turned first in the direction of the 
cathedral," continued Frank, " and it is well worth seeing, as it is one 
of the finest in all Europe, though not the largest. Rouen is justly 



THE BUTTER TOWER AT ROUEN. 



71 



proud of it, partly on account of its grandeur and age, and partly in 
consequence of the many historical associations connected with it." 

Mrs. Bassett fell into a singular mistake concerning one of the tow- 
ers of the cathedral, which the driver pointed out as they approached 
it, and said it was La Tour de Beurre, or Butter Tower. She looked 
intently at the tower in question, and said it appeared to her to be made 
of stone and not of butter. She insisted that butter is not a good mate- 
rial for the construction of towers on account of its tendency to soften 
in warm weather, of which there must certainly be some in Rouen. 

Frank explained that the name did not come from the material used 
in the construction of the tower, but from the fact that it was built with 
the money obtained from the sale of indulgences to eat butter during 
Lent. The tower was begun in a.d. 1485 and completed in 1507, and 
has been restored quite recently. 

Mrs. Bassett asked how old the cathedral was. Frank answered that 
the date of the earliest structure erected on the spot was uncertain, but 
the present edifice was begun in the twelfth century. The work was 
not completed for three hundred years from the time of its commence- 
ment, and some parts of the interior belong to the present century. The 
central spire is of iron and quite modern, as it replaces a wooden one 




THE CASTLE OF ROUEN IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



72 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



that was destroyed by lightning in 1822. The top of it is 485 feet from 
the ground, and the spire forms a conspicuous mark for miles around. 

The party spent an hour or more in the cathedral, examining the 
monuments and ornamentation, and lamenting the havoc wrought in 

the building by the Huguenots in 1562 and 
by the Revolutionists in 1793. Mrs. Bassett 
paused at the marble tablets in the pavement 
of the choir which mark the spots where the 
heart of Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard the 
Lion-hearted) and the body of his brother Hen- 
ry were buried. The monument to Richard's 
memory, like most of the other monuments 
in the cathedral, was mutilated by the Hugue- 
nots and afterwards removed. ]STo trace of 
them was found until nearly three hundred 
years later. The heart of Richard was found 
quite perfect in shape but shrunk in size, and 
it is now in the Museum of Antiquities at 
Rouen. It was enveloped in a piece of green- 
ish cloth and enclosed in a case of lead. 

" How did he get the name of ' The Lion- 
hearted V " queried Mrs. Bassett. 

" From his bravery in battle and his readi- 
ness to engage in war whenever the occasion 
offered," Frank replied. "He was crowned 
King of England in 1189 ; but from that time 
until his death, ten years later, the most of his 
time was passed in France and in a crusade to 
the Holy Land. He commanded the English 
half of the army of 100,000 men in the third 
crusade, the other half being French. He was 
absent about four years on this crusade, and 
after his return he was almost constantly en- 
gaged in wars upon French soil. He died in 
1199 from the effects of a wound received in a siege of the Castle of 
Chalus near Limoges. His wife was never in Great Britain, and he left 
no legitimate children to succeed him on the throne of England." 

Our friends visited several other churches on their way to the mu- 
seum, which was founded in 1833 and occupies a building which was 
once a convent. It contains many objects of interest, including Roman 




EFFIGY OF RICHARD THE LION 
HEARTED. 



74 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

relics that have been exhumed in Kouen and its vicinity. There are 
fifteen windows in the principal gallery, all made of painted glass from 
suppressed convents and churches, and forming a chronological series 
from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, of great interest to the 
student and by no means devoid of it for the ordinary traveller. It is 
said that there is no collection of glass painting equal to this in France, 
England, or anywhere else in Europe. 

The eyes of Mrs. Bassett and Mary were specially attracted to the 
glazed frames on the walls, which enclosed charters and other official 
documents bearing the autographs of celebrated personages. Mrs. Bas- 
sett's astonishment was great when she saw a charter granted by Will- 
iam the Conqueror and signed with a cross, and learned that the great 
invader of England was unable to write ! Then there were documents 
with the signatures of Richard the Lion-hearted, Henry I., and other 
rulers, and in a glass case lay the royal heart which has already been 
mentioned in connection with the cathedral. 

The sun was setting when the party came out of the museum, and 
it was decided to postpone further sight-seeing until the following day. 
In the evening Mary refreshed her memory concerning the Maid of Or- 
leans, and prepared to tell the story which Erank had assigned to her 
concerning that famous and remarkable girl whose life had an impor- 
tant bearing upon the France of five centuries ago. 

Fred recorded in his note-book that among the curiosities in the mu- 
seum was the door of the house in which Corneille, the great dramatist, 
was born. The French regard Corneille as the founder of the French 
drama and the writer who has done more than any other to make the 
French stage what it is to-day. He was a native of Rouen, where he 
was born in 1806, and spent the earlier part of his life there. He studied 
law and practised it for a few years, but did not succeed, and his failure 
in the law led him to literature. One biographer says that the French 
call him "the grand Corneille," not only to distinguish him from his broth- 
er Thomas, who was also a dramatist, but from the rest of mankind. 

Mary wished to see the Castle of Eouen, but found on investigation 
that there was very little remaining of the old fortress where Joan of 
Arc and other celebrated personages were kept in captivity and in many 
cases were subjected to torture. There is not enough of the castle re- 
maining to repay a visit. The walls of Rouen that resisted Henry Y. 
of England and Henri IV. of France have been removed, and the ground 
they occupied has been laid out into a boulevard, which extends around 
the city in a semicircle and rests on the Seine at its ends. 



THE MAID OF ORLEANS. 



75 



CHAPTER V. 



SOMETHING ABOUT JOAN OF ARC; HER BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY LIFE; THE 
SUPERNATURAL VOICES; HER VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR; PRESENTATION TO 
THE KING ; SHE LEADS THE ARMY TO BATTLE ; DEFEATS THE ENGLISH ; HER 
WONDERFUL MILITARY CAREER; PERSONAL INFLUENCE WITH COURT AND 
ARMY; CAPTURE, TRIAL FOR SORCERY, CONDEMNATION, AND DEATH; THE 
PLACE WHERE SHE WAS BURNED.— FROM ROUEN TO PARIS.— CHATEAU GAIL- 
LARD AND ITS HISTORY.— HENRY OF NAVARRE.— ARRIVAL AT PARIS.— REM- 
INISCENCE OF THE DOCTOR.— FRANK'S OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR FIRST DAY IN 
PARIS.— THE STREETS AND CAFES.— CAFE TORTONI.— CHAMPS-ELYSEES, BOIS DE 
BOULOGNE, AND CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME. 

T]>~ the morning the party proceeded to the 
-■- Place de la Pucelle, to see the spot where the 
Maid of Orleans was burned to death, after 
being convicted of sorcery. 

Mary was ready with her story of the life 
of the woman who is generally known as Joan 
of Arc to English-speaking people, while by the 
French she is called Jeanne Dare. 

"The French name is more nearly correct 
than the English one," said Mary. " She was 
the daughter of Jacques Dare, or D'Arc, of the 
village of Domremy, in Lorraine; on her trial 
she said that her name was Jehannette, or Jean- 
nette, and that in her part of the country girls 
bore the surname of their mothers. Her moth- 
er's maiden name was Rommee, and consequent- 
ly her real name, according to the Lorraine cus- 
tom, would have been Jehannette Rommee. She 
could not read or write ; her father was a farm- 
laborer, and all the education she ever received 
was such as was given by her mother and by the 

priests to children of her time, in the repetition of prayers, and the 
lessons of the Church. She is said to have been very religious, and 




CREDENCE OP JEANNE DARC'S 
TIME. 



76 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

when the sexton forgot to ring the bell for prayers she reminded him 
of his duty, and sometimes bribed him to its performance by small 
gifts of money or other things." 

" You haven't told us when she was born," Mrs. Bassett remarked, 
as Mary paused for a moment in her recital. 

" The date of her birth is not exactly known," Mary replied, " but it 
was probably some time in the year Mil. She lived the ordinary life 
of a peasant girl, working in the house and out-of-doors, going regularly 
and punctually to church, and devoting (so the histories say) a great 
deal of her spare time to meditating upon religion and on the state of 
the country, which was principally under the rule of the English. King 
Henry Y. had won the battle of Agincourt; Paris was in the hands 
of the English, and so was more than half of the kingdom. The people 
of her neighborhood were attached to the cause of the defeated King, 
and sympathized with him in his misfortunes. 

" From the time when Jeanne Dare was thirteen years old she fan- 
cied that she heard voices in the air and saw visions ; she frequently told 
her friends about them, and when she was sixteen years old she declared 
that the supernatural voices told her she must go and rid France of its 
enemies, the hated English." 

" Do you suppose she really heard them ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" She certainly believed so," Mary answered, diplomatically, " and 
went to the Governor of the province to ask him to send her to the King. 
He refused at first, but afterwards consented, and she went to Chinon, 
where the King, Charles YIL, was holding his court. Though she had 
never seen him, she singled him out in a group of courtiers, where he 
was standing dressed like all the others. She told him of the voices she 
had heard and what they said, and she impressed every one with her 
earnestness and her firm belief that she was destined to free her beloved 
France from the enemies that held possession of the country. 

" The King consented that she should lead the armies to battle, and 
she did so. She wore a suit of armor such as was worn by soldiers at 
that time, took command of ten thousand men, attacked the English 
who were besieging Orleans, and in a week defeated them and forced 
them to retreat to avoid capture." 

" That is why they call her the Maid of Orleans, is it not ?" queried 
Mrs. Bassett, as Mary paused. 

"Yes," was the reply. "Again and again she defeated the English 
armies, and in less than three months Charles was crowned King at 
Bheims, and Jeanne Dare stood at his side during the ceremony, dressed 



CAPTURE AND TRIAL OF JEANNE DARC. 



77 




JEANNE DARC HEARING "THE VOICES." 



in a man's armor. She declared that her work was done, and she 
wished to go back to Domremy ; but the King and his ministers per- 
suaded her to stay with the army, and she did so." 

" Did she have any more victories over the English V 
" No ; and, according to history, she did not expect any. She was 
wounded in an attack upon Paris, and a short time afterwards was capt- 
ured by the English at Compiegne and taken to Rouen. The French 
allies of the English demanded her trial for sorcery ; she was tried, con- 
demned, and here is the spot where, on the morning of Wednesday, May 
30, 1431, she was tied to a stake and burned to death." 

" Why, she was only twenty years old at the time of her death !" 
Mrs. Bassett exclaimed, in astonishment. " Only twenty years old !" 



78 



THE BOY TRAVELLEES IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" She was not yet twenty," said Mary, " according to the account 
that has come down to us. She was a prisoner for a year and a few days, 
and the time she was with the army was about fifteen months in all." 

Mary paused, and Frank took up the narrative in a comment upon 
the character of the Maid of Orleans : 

" The accounts of her life say that she impressed all with whom she 
came in contact with her extreme piety. No soldier would swear in 
her presence, and she made the army which she commanded one of the 
most moral and orderly armies that was ever known, whereas it had 
before been one of the most disorderly and dissolute. In the early part 
of her career she seemed to have a great deal of military knowledge 
but in the latter part of it she was rash and uncontrollable, and made 
many mistakes. To one of these mistakes her capture was due — a capt- 
ure which resulted in her 
death at the stake." 

The monument to the 
memory of Jeanne Dare 
in the market-place of 
Rouen is an insignificant 
affair, and is practically a 
fountain which supplies a 
trough with water. There 
is a rude figure of the maid 
upon the top of the monu- 
ment, but the insignifi- 
cance of the structure is 
such as to greatly disap- 
point every visitor who 
goes there without know- 
ing beforehand its real 
character. A fine statue 
of her was unveiled in 
Paris in 1873. The house 
where she was born is still 
standing between two 
buildings which were 
founded as a monument 
to her memory, and it 
contains a statue of Jeanne 
jeanne darc— [Statue by m. chapu.] Dare which was made by 




THE VALLEY OF THE SEINE. 



79 



the daughter of 
Louis Philippe, 
once King of 
France. 

From Rouen to 
Paris is a ride of 
two hours and a 
little more by ex- 
press train, the dis- 
tance being eighty- 
four miles. The 
railway follows the 
general course of 
the Seine, cross- 
ing it two or three 
times, and passing 
through tunnels be- 
neath the hills that 
interfered some- 
what with the work 
of the engineers 
when they laid out 
the line. Here and 
there the views 
from the windows 
of the railway car- 
riages are quite 
pretty. Mary and 

Frank were constantly exchanging observations and places from the 
windows of the compartment in which they were seated, and when the 
journey was concluded there was a good-natured contention between 
them as to which of the twain had been most fortunately situated. 
Mrs. Bassett was charmed with the appearance of the fields and gar- 
dens that rolled by them like a swift-moving panorama, and she pro- 
nounced the Seine one of the prettiest rivers she had seen since she 
left home. 

As the train rolled along Frank pointed 'out the towers of several 
chateaux that had been the residences of men famous in the history of 
France, or the scenes of siege and battle in the days that were more 
stormy than the present. One of the most interesting is the Chateau 




JOAN OF ARC IN BATTLE. 



80 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




CHATEAU GAILLARD. 



Gaillard, or " Saucy Castle," which is now in ruins. It occupies a con- 
spicuous place on a hill overlooking the Seine, and was built by King 
Richard the Lion-hearted in defiance of a treaty he had made with his 

rival, Philippe Au- 
gustus. 

"King Richard 
is said to have built 
it in a single year," 
Frank remarked, 
" and by means of 
it he was able to 
intercept the navi- 
gation of the Seine 
between Paris and 
the capital of Nor- 
mandy, separate 
the forts of Vernon 
and Giours, that 
belonged to the 
French King, and overrun the country with the plundering bands that 
he sent out from the castle at irregular intervals." 

" Isn't that the castle where Marguerite de Bourgogne was impris- 
oned ?" Mary asked, as she contemplated the ruins. 

" Yes, that is the castle, and she was strangled there by order of her 
husband, Louis X., King of Prance." 

" It was evident that husband and wife were not on pleasant terms 
in that particular instance," Mrs. Bassett remarked, in a low tone, to 
Pred, who was at her side, and nodded assent. 

" That was nearly six hundred years ago," said Fred. " They would 
get along better at the present time, or, at all events, the strangling 
would not be in fashion in any civilized land." 

" The castle was besieged and taken several times," continued Prank. 
" It resisted Henry V. for sixteen months with a small garrison of only 
120 men, and only surrendered in consequence of being cut off from a 
supply of water by the wearing out of the ropes by which the buckets 
were lowered into the only well that the place contained." 

Another chateau which attracted the attention of the travellers is that 
where Sully, the friend and confidant of King Henri IV. (Henry of Na- 
varre), was born, and where much of his life was passed. Frank directed 
the eyes of his companions towards it, whereupon Fred remarked that 



THE BATTLE OF IVRY. 



81 



it reminded him of the stirring lines of Macaulay, entitled " The Battle 
of Ivry." " You know," said he, " that there are few school-boys who 
have not used ' The Battle of Ivry ' as a piece of declamation, and an 
excellent one it is for that purpose." 

Mary thought she had heard or read it, but couldn't recall the lines 
at that moment ; whereupon Fred repeated the first stanza, ending with 
the words, 

"Hurrah ! hurrah ! a single field has turned the tide of war ; 
Hurrah ! hurrah ! for Ivry, and King Henry of Navarre !" 

" I remember it now," exclaimed Mary. " But what has that to do 
with this chateau of the famous Sull} 7 ?" 

" The battle of Ivry was the turning-point in the career of Henry of 
Navarre ; and Sully, who was born here, was at the side of the King 
throughout the battle, and was wounded several times during the en- 
gagement. Henry of Navarre was the founder of the royal House of 




CASTLE CHAMBER OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



Bourbon. After several victories over his enemies he entered Paris 
without resistance, and, in 1598, proclaimed liberty of conscience to all 
his subjects through the famous Edict of Nantes. It remained in force 
until 1685, when it was revoked by Louis XIV." 

By this time the chateau they had been discussing was far behind 

6 



82 



THE BOY TRAVELLEES IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



them and new objects claimed their attention. By general consent a 
truce was given to historical matters, and the conversation was confined 
to things and events of the present time. 

They passed Poissy and Asnieres, the latter a famous pleasure resort 





MEDAL OF THE DUKE OF SULLY. 



of Parisians in summer, and especially of those who are fond of boating. 
Already some of the domes of Paris had been seen through the trees, 
and every moment the signs of their near approach to the capital grew 
more numerous. At length the outer gates were passed and the train 
entered the limits of the city. On and on it went, passing through 
tunnels under Les Batignolles and the Place de l'Europe, and rolling 
through a deep cutting into the Gare Saint-Lazare, or Saint-Lazare 
station of the Western Railway of France. 

And now behold them in the capital of the country which has been 
republic, kingdom, empire, and again republic, all during the space of a 
great deal less than a single century. 

Apropos of the changes that have come over France in her form of 
government, Doctor Bronson told a little story : 

" Soon after the close of the war in 1870-71 I had occasion to visit 
Algeria. Travelling through the interior, I came, on one occasion, to a 
village where the most conspicuous building was the one occupied by 
the military guards or gendarmes. Over the door of the building 
there had been a sign bearing the words ' Gendarmerie Imperiale.' The 
sign was in large letters painted on the wall of the house, and therefore 
could not be taken down in the ordinary way. The establishment of 
the republic had necessitated the change of the word 'Imperiale' to 
' Rationale.' The change had been made economically, and with a view 



INCONVENIENCES OF GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES. 



83 



to possible contingencies in the future. The word ' Nation ' was rudely 
painted on a strip of canvas, and this had been fastened with a few 
carpet-tacks so as to hide the first six letters of ' Imperiale.' 

" The great steamship company which has its starting-point at Mar- 
seilles, whence its lines extend to all eastern waters, and as far as Aus- 
tralia, was chartered during the time of the empire under the title of 
' Messageries Imperiales.' When the republic was established the 
name of the company was changed to ' Messageries Maritimes,' so as 




CHATEAU OF HENRY IT. 



to cover the needs of the present and also any future possibilities. In 
the event of the return of France to royal or imperial rule, there would 
be no necessity of changing the word ' Maritimes,' which would be sat- 
isfactory enough under any form of government." 

We will let Frank tell the story of what was seen by himself and 
companions during their first day in Paris : 

" We have seen so much to-day," wrote Frank in his journal, " that 
I hardly know where to begin, and, once beginning, I shall not know 



84 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

when to stop. Paris has been described so many times that I fear there 
is little to be said that will be altogether new ; but, on the other hand, 
the picture is always changing, and every day presents something that 
has not been seen before and possibly not heard of. 

" It is no wonder that the French are proud of their capital city. It 
is so bright, so clean, so full of gayety, so versatile, and contains so 
much to interest everybody whose taste is in any way refined, that we 
find ourselves lost in admiration at almost every step. Happily for us, 
the skies are clear and the weather is all that the most fastidious could 
wish. We have walked along the boulevards, sipped lemonade at the 
cafes, gazed into the windows of shops without number, contemplated 
the exterior of many magnificent buildings, watched the never-ending 
throng that passes along the broad sidewalks, and the picture every- 
where presented is so attractive that we shall be unwilling to leave it. 
We have seen very much in this first day, and feel certain that there is 
a vast deal more for us to see in the days that are to follow. 

" Mamma and Mary are sure they will find everything that they 
want in the shops, and they are already planning excursions in which 
sight -seeing and shopping shall be skilfully combined. Well, we will 
probably be able to meet the individual tastes of all with very little dif- 
ficulty. Fred and I have a little shopping on our own account ; and as 
for Doctor Bronson, he says he must run over to London for a few 
days, and will leave us to plod along without him. Fred thinks that if 
there is any place in the world where we can plod without assistance, 
Paris is that place. 

" One of the first things to catch the attention of visitors is the 
cafes, partly for the reason that much of the life of the genuine Parisian 
centres in those establishments, and partly because they are thrust upon 
our sight, whether we want to see them or not. Not only are their 
doors wide open for our reception, but the tables and chairs are spread 
on the sidewalks and constantly invite the pedestrian to pause and rest. 
If he pauses to rest and sit at table, he must order some kind of refresh- 
ment, as the proprietors of the establishments do not maintain their 
service for the gratuitous accommodation of the public. But the re- 
freshments may be of the most harmless character ; we have not found 
it necessary to drink anything stronger than lemonade and coffee, or 
certain innocuous syrups that are served with mineral waters from 
sputtering siphons in the hands of the waiters. 

" But when we drank temperance beverages we did not follow the 
example of those about us so far as we could observe. Out of curiosity 



o 




86 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



we watched those who took places near us, and found that the majority 
of them were satisfied with nothing more mild than brandy, which they 
drink in little glasses the size of a thimble, or but very little larger, or 
with absinthe, amer Picon, or some other stimulant. "While we were 
sitting at one of the cafes two Americans, at least we judged them to 
be Americans by their language and accent, sauntered along and sat 
down. One of them called for ' cognac ' (brandy), and when the waiter 
appeared with a small carafe or decanter and the accompanying glasses, 
there was a scene that ought to have been sketched by an artist. 

" One of the twain was a corpulent man with a rubicund face, and 
evidently accustomed to take his beverages in liberal doses. He glanced 
with contempt at the diminutive glass as he took it between his fin- 
gers ; he held the glass till it was filled, and then tossed the contents 
into his capacious mouth. With the same motion he brought the glass 
down to be refilled, and six times in succession he emptied it into his 
mouth the instant the filling was completed. Then he paused and his 

friend followed his example. 
The whole performance did not 
take five minutes, and the wait- 
er stood in an attitude of sur- 
prise, though he did not for an 
instant lose control of the mus- 
cles of his face. One of the 
strangers remarked that it took 
at least half a dozen of those 
glasses to make a respectable 
drink, to which the other nodded 
assent as he paid for their con- 
sommations and the twain pre- 
pared to move on. 

" Some one has wittily re- 
marked that Americans and Eng- 
lish go to saloons and cafes because they want to drink, but Frenchmen 
drink because they want to go to the cafe. The Trench are not a drink- 
ing people when we compare them with the English, and probably four- 
fifths of the people we see at the cafes would not order any beverages 
were it not for the rule that compels them to do so if they want to 
sit at the tables, read the newspapers, watch the people who pass along 
the street, and talk with their acquaintances or with any stranger who 
is willing to talk with them. Mr. Theodore Child, in an article on this 




AN OLD CUSTOMER. 



PECULIARITIES OF THE CAFES. 87 

subject for Harper's Magazine, says that cafes and newspapers came 
into fashion almost simultaneously about a century ago, when Louis 
XVI. was King. Newspapers increased in number as the times became 
more interesting, and the ordinary topics of the day were dropped for 
politics, in which the discussions often grew very warm. Certain cafes 
became the resort of men of one way of thinking, the Jacobins fre- 
quenting the Cafe Corazza, while the Royalists gathered at the Cafe de 
Toy. Many of the revolutionary clubs were formed in the cafes, and 
even at the present time some of the well-known cafes or restaurants 
have a certain distinctive political character. 

" The same gentleman says that the rule was established in those 
days that a man may sit for six hours in a cafe, reading the news- 
papers and discussing politics or anything else, on a single order of a 
cup of coffee or a glass of cognac. The rule has come down to the 
present time, and you may see a man sit a long time over a glass of 
brandy, which he sips a few drops at a time at long intervals. Cus- 
tomers of this sort are not particularly profitable, as the proprietor is 
obliged to supply the daily newspapers free of charge to all who wish 
to read them ; and very often a man goes to a cafe because he reads 
the papers there for less than it w T ould cost to buy them, and he can 
have a drink and the free use of chair and table in addition. 

" One cafe w r here we stopped a short time is known as the Tortoni, 
probably from the name of the man w T ho established it, but he must 
have been dead for a good many years. This cafe is said to be fully 
a hundred years old, and it was a famous place as far back as the time 
of the first Napoleon. According to tradition it was and is the meet- 
ing-place of the fashionable wits of Paris, and of course they include 
the men who write funny or sarcastic things in the newspapers. As 
we are strangers in the city we do not know the faces of any of the 
fashionables, and therefore I am unable to say whether we saw any of 
the men who are prominent in Parisian life/ 

"When we wore tired of walking, looking into shop -windows, or 
sitting at the cafes, we hired a carriage and drove in the direction of 
the Bois de Boulogne. When we reached the Place de la Concorde 
mamma wanted the carriage stopped, so that she could look around and 
take in the view without missing anything. 

" We called a halt, and stepped from the carriage in order to be 
better able to see what was around us. We agreed that it was the 
prettiest public square we had ever seen; and as this is the opinion of 
everybody I ever heard say anything on the subject, we think we are 



88 THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN CENTEAL EUEOPE. 

not out of the way. With the fountains and statues that adorn it, and 
the buildings that surround it or are in full view, it is a grand spot; 
with all these, and the obelisk of Luxor in addition, it is magnificent. 

" ' What is the meaning of Place de la Concorde ?' mamma asked. 
i What does the word concorde mean V 

" ' Concorde is the French for peace or concord,' Fred answered. 

" ' Then this must be the Place or Square of Peace,' mamma an- 
swered. ' Has it always been as peaceful as it is now V 

" Fred explained that the history of the Place de la Concorde was 
anything but peaceful. ' In 1763,' said he, ' it was named Place Louis 
XV., in honor of that ruler. Seven years later, during a celebration, 
the accidental discharge of some rockets caused a panic, in which 
twelve thousand people were crushed to death, and as many more 
severely hurt ; in 1793 the guillotine began its work here, and in little 
more than two years not fewer than three thousand persons were be- 
headed in this square. Among them were King Louis XVI., Queen 
Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, the Duke of Orleans, Danton, 
Robespierre, and other persons of note.' 

" ' It ought rather to be called Place de la Discorde,' said Mrs. Bas- 
sett, as Fred paused a moment in his narrative. We all nodded assent, 
and then Fred continued, as follows : 

" ' The next bloodshed of consequence was in 1871, when the regular 
troops of the Government were resisted by the Communists. The Com- 
munists had erected a barricade in the Rue Royale, and they fought 
desperately to hold possession of it. Several houses in the Rue Royale 
and neighboring streets were set on fire, and the tanks of the engines 
that came to pretend to extinguish the flames were filled with petro- 
leum in place of water. The more they played upon the fire the fiercer 
it became, as you might suppose.' 

" From the Place de la Concorde we drove through the Champs- 
Ely sees (Elysian Fields), past the Arc de Triomphe, and out to the Bois 
de Boulogne. It was a drive full of interest at everjr step. It was the 
hour when people were promenading in the Champs-Elysees ; we had 
wondered where all the people came from whom we saw on the boule- 
vards, and now we wondered again at the crowds in this part of the 
city. It was the same sort of life that we had already seen, everybody 
enjoying himself without interfering with others, and everybody doing 
whatever he pleased within proper limitations. Mary suggested that 
we stop a while and stroll among the trees, or sit in the chairs or on 
the benches, but Fred and I advised her to postpone that enjoyment 



90 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

until some day when we did not have a carriage engaged by the 
hour at the regulation tariff. 

" The carriages were as numerous on the avenue of the Champs- 
Elysees as the pedestrians were upon the sidewalks or among the trees 
— not literally as numerous, but in proportion. It was the time of the 
daily promenade, and the great majority of the carriages were driving 
in the direction of the Bois de Boulogne, or the ' Bois,' as it is usually 
called. There was a goodly number of gentlemen on horseback ; some 
of them were good riders, while others acted as though they had never 
mounted a horse before that day. On the whole, I think we saw fewer 
riders than in Berlin, when we took our drive in the Thiergarten at the 
fashionable hour, and so I conclude that horseback exercise is not as 
popular with the French as with the Germans. 

" The Bois de Boulogne is a very pretty park, but I don't think it 
as fine as our own Central Park in- New York, though it is nearly three 
times as large. It has suffered a good deal by war, nearly all the large 
trees having been cut down in 1814-15 ; those that grew up after that 
time were doing very well until the war of 1870-71, when all trees 
near the fortifications were destroyed in order to give a clear sweep to 
the French cannoneers who defended the city. 

"They have lakes in the Bois just as Ave have in Central Park ; and 
they have something of which w T e cannot boast : a cascade forty feet 
high which comes out of a grotto, and looks for all the world as though 
it was a natural cascade which had never been touched by human 
hands. But they tell us that the lakes are artificial, and so is the cas- 
cade, just as much as are the roads and the gravelled walks. They 
must have spent a great deal of money on the Bois de Boulogne to 
make it what it is. According to history, it used to be a haunt of 
robbers and a favorite resort for men who wanted to fight duels or 
commit suicide. Duels are very rare now, but suicides are by no means 
infrequent, so we are told by a gentleman whom we met here. 

" We dined at the restaurant near the cascade, and had a very good 
and also a very dear dinner. Visitors complain a great deal about the 
charges at this restaurant, but in spite of their complaints the place 
is very popular, if we may judge by the number of people we saw 
there. Probably the managers would say that those who do not like 
to pay their prices can go somewhere else, and that is what we shall 
probably do in future. But in this instance we wanted to dine there, 
so as to drive back to the city in the evening and see how the streets 
appeared under the light of gas and electricity. We were well paid 



PARIS AT NIGHT. 



91 




RIDING FOR HIS HEALTH. 



for our outlay, and advise every one who visits Paris to drive along 
the Champs-Elysees in the evening and observe the effect of the light, 
especially as he looks along the avenue from the Arc de Triomphe. 
No street or avenue in any American city can possibly compare with 
it ; at any rate, none that we have ever seen. 

" Well, I'm tired and sleepy, and think I have said all I can for this 
evening. There's more to tell you, lots and lots, but I'll put it off till 
some other time. Good-night." 

Mrs. Bassett's desire was to see some of the famous churches of 
which she had heard and read, and so the youths engaged to visit the 
principal ones on their way about the city. On their way to the Bois 
de Boulogne they had passed the Madeleine, which the good woman 



92 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

could hardly believe was a church, as it looked so unlike any religious 
edifice that she had ever before seen. Frank explained that it is mod- 
elled after a Greek temple, and was begun near the middle of the last 
century, but not finished until 1842. Napoleon I. ordered that it should 
be converted into a " Hall of Glory," but when Louis XVIII. ascended 
the throne the plans of Napoleon were dropped, and the work pro- 
ceeded upon the original intention of making it a church. 

The most famous of all the churches of Paris is that of Notre 
Dame, and Frank arranged the excursion of their second day in Paris 
so that they might visit it. On arriving near it they spent some time 
contemplating the exterior, and especially in looking at the magnificent 
facade, which has been taken as the model of many other church f agades 
in various parts of France. It was begun in the early part of the thir- 
teenth century, Frank explained, but a long time was required for its 
completion in its present shape. 

" Then the church must be six hundred years old !" Mrs. Bassett 
exclaimed, as she contemplated the edifice. 

" Some parts of it are older," replied Frank. " There was a church 
here as early as the fourth century, and the present one was founded 
in the year 1163, on the original site. The building has been altered 
several times, and parts of it that were destroyed by time or by vio- 
lence have been restored in the past fifty years. Do you happen to 
know that at one time it was doomed to be torn down?" 

"I know," said Mary. " In the Ke volution of 1793 order was issued 
for pulling down the church, but only the sculptures were destroyed. 
The revolutionists converted it into a 'Temple of Eeason,' and re- 
moved all the religious sculptures, which they replaced by some of 
their own. After the Eevolution it was again used as a church until 
1871, when the Communists converted it into a military storehouse, 
plundered the treasury, and destroyed many of the statues and decora- 
tions. They actually set fire to the church, but it was not seriously 
damaged." 

" What a pity it would have been," said Mrs. Bassett, " if this magnifi- 
cent church had been destroyed ! Everybody who knows anything about 
Paris knows about this building, and is sure to want to see it." 

"This is the oldest part of Paris," Frank continued— " this little 
island, called He de la Cite, where we now are." 

" Isn't this where Lutetia was ?" Mary asked. 

" Yes," was the reply. " When Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar 
there was a tribe called Parish living on the banks of the Sequana, or 



CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME. 



93 



Seine. Their chief town was Lutetia, and it was on this very island. It 
was a collection of huts, and the inhabitants fought against the invaders 
and burned their town rather than see it fall into the hands of the 
Romans who came to conquer them." 

" How long ago was that ?" queried Mrs. Bassett. 

" In the year 52 b.c," replied Frank. " The Gauls submitted because 
they were defeated, but they rebelled two or three times, though without 
success. The Emperor Julian lived here in the year 360, and changed 
the name from Lutetia to Parish, or Paris, and it has kept the name ever 
since, unless history is at fault." 

"I wonder what New York and Chicago will be when they are as 
old as Paris ?" said Mrs. Bassett, as she turned to contemplate the objects 
of interest in the venerable church in which they stood. Nobody vent- 
ured to answer her quer}'-, and so her contemplation was not interrupted. 




PART OF ANCIENT CHURCH WINDOW, PARIS. 



94: 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

THE BASTILE ; WHAT REMAINS OF IT TO-DAY ; ITS HISTORY AND USES ; CAPTURE 
AND DESTRUCTION.— LETTRES BE CACHET.— LAFAYETTE AND THE KEY OF 
THE BASTILE.— THE LOUVRE ; ITS HISTORY.— CATHERINE DE MEDICIS AND THE 
PALACE OF THE TUILERIES; BURNING OF THE PALACE IN 1871.— A CHAT ABOUT 
THE COMMUNISTS.— COMMUNES OF 1789 AND 1871.— THE CORPS LEGISLATIF.— 
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES IN SESSION. — GAMBETT A.— AN OLD SENATOR. — HOW 
THE FRENCH PRESIDENT IS CHOSEN— THE VENDOME COLUMN AND SOMETHING 
ABOUT IT. — THE FATAL PHOTOGRAPH. — THE INVALIDES AND THE TOMB OF 
NAPOLEON.— A BIT OF MORALIZING. 



AS the party came out of the Church of Notre Dame, Mrs. Bassett 
■£*- asked if they were going to see the Louvre and the Tuileries at 
any time during the day. She wanted to see those buildings and also 
the Bastile — or, rather, the place where it was. 

" You have already seen a part of the Bas- 
tile," said Frank, in response. 

"I wasn't aware of it," was the reply. "When 
and where did we see it ?" 

" When we were in the Place de la Concorde," 
said Frank. " You remember the bridge that 
crosses the Seine from the square to the Cham- 
ber of Deputies on the other bank, do you not ?" 
" Certainly I remember a bridge. Mary, what 
was the name of it ?" 

" The Pont de la Concorde, mamma," the girl 
answered. 

" Yery well," Frank explained ; " that bridge 

was built in 1789-90, and the greater part of the 

material for it — at least, the upper portion — was 

taken from the Bastile." 

" Perhaps it was a sentimental idea of somebody to put the stones of 

the Bastile, the prison where the tyrants sent so many of their victims, in 

a place where they could be walked upon by the whole population," Mary 

remarked. " At any rate, it was an excellent use to make of that ma- 




KEY OF THE BASTILE. 



THE BASTILE. 



95 



terial— to put it where it could benefit everybody, rather than be a 
terror to all except a very few." 

It is only a short distance to the site of the Bastile from where they 
entered the carriage, and so Frank instructed the driver to take them 
thither. In a few minutes the column that marks the spot where the 
prison once stood was in full view, and our friends halted in front of it. 
Mrs. Bassett intimated that she would like to know something of the 
history of the famous prison, and her desire was gratified by Fred. 

"Bastile was a 
common name for 
a strong fortress 

with towers or -. - _- 

bastions through- 
out France," said 
Fred; "but in 
course of time it 
became applied to 
this particular pris- 
on, which was built 
by order of Charles 
V., some time be- 
tween 1370 and 
1383, as a defence 
against the Eng- 
lish. The Bastile 
was converted into 

a political prison in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; but, ac- 
cording to history, it could only accommodate less than one hundred 
prisoners at one time." 

" Why, I thought they had thousands of them here all the while !" 
Mrs. Bassett exclaimed, as Fred paused. 

" That is the popular belief," was the reply ; " but, according to history, 
it is a mistaken one. We must bear in mind that the persons confined 
here were not ordinary prisoners, but men and women of high rank whom 
it was desired to get out of the way without the formality of a trial. 
They were generally sent here by lettre de cachet and — " 

" What is a lettre de cachet f I must plead ignorance about it." 

" A lettre de cachet is a sealed letter. All royal letters were either 
patentes or cachets. The patentes, or open letters, were signed by the 
King, countersigned by a Minister of State, and stamped with the great 




the bastile. — [From an old print.] 



96 ' THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

seal of State, while the cachet letters were folded up and sealed with the 
king's little seal, and did not pass through the hands of any of the royal 
ministers. They were very common in the time of Louis XI V., who 
found them exceedingly convenient for his purposes. Persons arrested 
under these letters were sent to the Bastile or some other State prison, 
and they stayed there all their lives for the sole reason that they had 
been forgotten." 

" No wonder the people destroyed the Bastile, if that was the use the 
King made of it. Was it full of prisoners at the time it was captured ?" 

" No," answered Fred ; " there were only seven prisoners in the Bastile 
when the people took it on July 14, 1789, and three of them, were un- 
known. One had been there thirty years. When he was liberated he 
was like a man just aroused from sleep, and his intellect was practically 
gone. Another prisoner had been there since he was eleven years old, 
and another had been twenty years inside the walls of the Bastile. 

" The prisoners in the Bastile were not allowed to see any one but 
their guards, and many of their cells were so arranged that their food 
was passed to them through a small wicket ; and though they could be 
seen by the guards, they could not themselves see anything. They were 
poorly fed and very badly treated, and altogether it is a wonder that 
any of them lived as long as they did. Many persons of prominence 
were confined here at different times ; among them were Yoltaire, Mar- 
shal Richelieu, and the Man in the Iron Mask." 

Then the conversation turned to the events connected with the fall 
of the Bastile in the early part of the French Revolution. Mrs. Bassett 
was under the impression that there was always a very large garrison in 
charge of the prison. She was somewhat surprised to learn that at the 
time of its capture the Governor had under his command a garrison of 
thirty -two Swiss soldiers and thirty-two invalids. At the demand of the 
mob he removed some of the cannon from the towers and roof ; this did 
not satisfy the populace, and they brought artillery to bear upon the 
building, after a fight in which 150 of the besiegers were killed or 
wounded and one of the garrison was killed. 

" I have seen the key of the Bastile," said Mrs. Bassett. " It is at 
Mount Yernon, the home of General Washington, and hangs in a glass- 
case in the hall- way." 

" Yes," said Mary ; " I remember reading in my school history that 
Lafayette sent the key of the Bastile to his old commander-in-chief a 
short time after the destruction of the prison." 

" General Lafayette was the commander of the French National 



FROM THE BASTILE TO THE LOUVRE. 



97 




destruction of the bastile. — [From an old print.] 



Guard in 1789," said Fred, " and it was by his orders that the prison was 
destroyed after the surrender of the garrison." 

From the Place de la Bastille the party drove to the Louvre, where 
they remained only a short time. Frank said the day was too pleasant 
to be passed in-doors, and they would leave the art sights of the Louvre 
until a rainy day, when they would go there and take things leisurely. 

"What an immense building it is !" said Mrs. Bassett, as they passed 
slowly along its front. 

" Yes," replied Frank, " it is one of the finest and most interesting 

7 



98 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

buildings in Paris, and a great deal of the history of France is connected 
with it. There was once a forest here which was infested with wolves, 
and was consequently called the Lupera, or Louverie. A castle was 
built here in the thirteenth century, and afterwards fitted up as a royal 
residence, but no part of it is now in existence. The oldest parts of the 
present edifice date from the middle of the sixteenth century. Francis 
I. caused the removal of the old chateau and began the present palace, 
and it was enlarged by subsequent rulers. Under Catherine de Medicis, 
the widow of Henri II., the Louvre was extended to the westward, and 
the erection of the palace of the Tuileries was begun." 

Mrs. Bassett was practical, and wanted to know how much ground 
was occupied by the Louvre and the Tuileries. 

"Altogether they occupy an area of forty-eight acres," Frank an- 
swered, " and in this area are included the three court-yards which are 
enclosed by the buildings. Regarded as one structure, the Louvre and 
Tuileries may be considered one of the finest palaces in the world. For 
nearly a hundred years the Louvre has been used as an art gallery and 
museum, and it contains enough to occupy the attention of a visitor for 
days and weeks together." 

From the Louvre our friends drove along the Rue de Rivoli, in front 
of the Tuileries. As they went along, Frank explained to his mother 
that the palace, which owed its commencement to Catherine de Medicis 
and its completion to Napoleon III., was no longer in existence, with the 
exception of the wings which connected it with the Louvre. 

" I remember," said Mrs. Bassett, " that the palace was burned by 
the Communists in 1871. The wonder is that all the buildings here 
were not destroyed." 

" It is not to the credit of the Communists that any portion of them 
is standing to-day. "When the Communists found that the troops from 
Versailles were entering the city, they set fire to many of the public 
buildings, and among them the Palace of the Tuileries. By the time the 
Versailles troops were in possession of the city the flames had made such 
havoc that it was impossible to save the palace. All of the west side 
was destroyed, including the apartments occupied by Napoleon III. and 
the Empress Eugenie. No attempt was made to save anything ; in fact, 
the policy of the Communists was to destroy everything that could be 
a reminder of the imperial regime." 

"I don't know that I understand exactly who the Communists 
were," said Mrs. Bassett. 

" That is the case with a great many others," Frank replied, " and it 



THE PARIS COMMUNISTS. 



99 



is possible that many of those who called themselves Communists would 
be unable to explain their views. The principle of Communism is very 
old, and may be explained in a general way as a system by which all 
property is held in common. Socialism and Communism run very 
closely together, and the former may be fairly included in the latter." 

"But what I particularly refer to now," said Mrs. Bassett, "is the 
Commune of Paris of which we were just now talking." 

" The Paris Commune was political rather than sqcial," was the re- 
ply. " The commune is the name of the village or municipal adminis- 
tration all over France, and is very much like our town or township ad- 
ministration in America. The idea of the Paris Communists was that 
every commune should be an independent government by itself, and the 
country of France nothing more than a confederation of such govern- 
ments. They wanted to make the city of Paris a republic by itself, and 
do away with everything like a central government for the country, 
with power over the city. 

" The Commune of 1871 was not by any means the first in Paris," 
Frank continued. "There was a Commune of Paris in 1789. It was 




THE LOUVRE Of THE TIME OF CHARLES V. 



100 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



organized on the day the Bastile was taken, and remained in existence 
for a few days more than four years. Under it were committed many 
of the excesses that disgraced the revolution, and the moderate men of 
France saw very early that the country would be ruined and utterly 
broken up if the revolutionary committee, called ' The Commune,' was 

allowed to continue. It 
was under this Commune 
that so many men and 
women were sent to the 
scaffold for no other of- 
fence than their unwill- 
ingness to subscribe to 
the new doctrines. The 
commune of 1871 was 
formed on the same gen- 
eral lines as that of 1789, 
and if it had been al- 
lowed to last as long 
would no doubt have been 
just as extreme in its 
measures. It lasted little 
more than two months — 
from March 18th to May 
28th — but in that short 
time it destroyed a great 
deal of property, and put 
to death many prominent 
men who had fallen into 
the insurgent hands." 
" They killed the Archbishop of Paris, did they not ?" Mary asked. 
" Yes, the Archbishop of Paris, Generals Lecomte and Thomas, and 
a good many other prominent men whom they had put in prison. An 
order was issued on May 24th that all the prisoners then in the hands 
of the Communists should be taken out and shot, and it was carried 
out that very evening. The fires that destroyed the public and pri- 
vate buildings were burning for five or six days, and it was after- 
wards ascertained that the Communists had determined to destroy 
the entire city, so that the victory of the Government would be a use- 
less one." 

" Then I'm to understand," said Mrs. Bassett, " that if the Commu- 




MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



THE TERRIBLE WEEK. 101 

nists could have carried out their plans there would have been only a 
heap of ruins where the city now is." 

" Yes, that is exactly what they determined to leave behind them 
in case they were defeated. Even after the Government troops were 
in possession a great number of fires were set in all parts of the city. 
Women were very active in setting these fires and in scattering petro- 
leum around so as to make the flames more fierce. The national troops 
shot down women as well as men who were charged with setting fires, 
and there is no doubt that a great number of those who were thus killed 
were entirely innocent of the crime charged against them. If men or 
women were pointed out as petroleurs or petroleuses, they were shot 
down without any inquiry. Many of the leaders were captured and 
afterwards regularly tried ; some were executed, and others sent to 
prison for life or long terms of years." 

" How many buildings were burned at that time ?" Mary asked. 

"I can't say exactly," replied Frank, "but there were hundreds of 
private houses set on fire during the week which may well be called the 
terrible one. Then there were the Tuileries Palace, as you know, the 
Hotel de Ville, or City Hall, the Palace of Justice, Prefecture of Police, 
Palace of the Legion of Honor, the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin, 
grenier d'abondance, several churches, and some large mercantile estab- 
lishments, besides smaller public buildings. Many of these buildings 
have been replaced, but the Palace of the Tuileries has not, nor is it 
likely to be, as the Government has at present no use for an imperial 
palace either in Paris or elsewhere." 

" Of course not," said Mary, "as it is a republic. Do they choose 
their President every four years, as we do in the United States ?" 

" No ; he is elected once in seven years, but not by the people di- 
rectly, as our President is. France has a Congress like ours, which con- 
sists of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, and when a President is to 
be chosen, the two Houses come together into a national assembly, or 
congress, and ballot for a choice. The voting is continued until a choice 
is made by a majority, and sometimes the scenes at the election of a 
President have been anything but orderly." 

"How many members are there in the two Houses or the Corps 
Legislatif , as they call it V\ 

"The Chamber consists of five hundred and eighty- four Deputies, 
who are elected for four years directly by the people, as our members 
of Congress are chosen. There are three hundred Senators, who are 
elected for nine years, one -third of them retiring every three years. 



102 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



They are not elected by the people directly, but by an electoral body 
composed of delegates chosen by the municipal council of each com- 
mune in proportion to its population, and of the Deputies and certain 
other officers of each department." 

" I suppose the Senators and Deputies make laws, very much as our 




MEETING-PLACE OP THE CHAMBER OP DEPUTIES. 



Congress and the Parliament of England do, and the President exe- 
cutes them after they are made." 

" Yes ; the methods are so nearly like our own and the English that 
it is unnecessary to describe them. The President has a ministry ap- 
pointed by himself, and there is also an institution peculiar to France 
which is called ' Conseil d'Etat ' (Council of State). It was established 
by Napoleon I., and has kept up ever since through all the changes of 
this very changeable Government." 

" How is it composed and what does it do ?" 

" It consists of Councillors and other officials, all of them owing 
their appointments to the President, and is presided over by the 
Minister of Justice. It may be regarded as an advisory board, as its 



FRENCH SENATE AND CHAMBER OP DEPUTIES. 103 

duty is to give opinions upon questions that the Government may 
submit to it ; it does not originate anything, nor suggest laws to be 
passed by the legislative body. 

" I suppose the Chamber of Deputies looks very much like the 
American House of Representatives, does it not ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" It resembles it in many ways," was the reply, " and the differences 
are mainly those of differences of French and American character. It 
is a great deal more turbulent than the American Congress, and very 
often the presiding officer finds it impossible to preserve anything like 
order. A dozen, or perhaps fifty, members will be on their feet all at 
once and shouting at the top of their voices ; the din and confusion 
remind the visitor of a boiler -factory in full operation. Time and 
time again the president rings his bell and pounds the desk with his 
gavel or a paper-cutter, but to no effect ; then he calls out, ' Tin pen de 
silence, messieurs ! Un peu de silence P He calls it repeatedly ; and if 
he has a voice stronger than that of any one else, he may manage 
to make himself heard. If he cannot, he sends the sergeants-at-arms 
around among the members, and between their commands and the 
weariness of those who have been vainly trying to catch the president's 
attention something like silence is eventually secured. 

" One of the best presiding officers that ever stood over the Chamber 
of Deputies was M. Gambetta, who was prominent in the organization 
of the Government after the downfall of the Second Empire. His 
voice generally rang out clear and distinct above the confusion of the 
Chamber; and though he sometimes lost his temper, he generally 
managed to bring order out of chaos through his skill and patience." 

" Do both Houses meet in the building of the Corps Legislatif ?" 
Mary asked, as her brother paused. 

" Oh no," answered Frank. " The Senate meets in the Palace of the 
Luxembourg, a mile away from the Pont de la Concorde. The Senate 
is a much more orderly body than the Chamber of Deputies ; the mem- 
bers average a good deal older, and they have naturally much more 
dignity, as the majority of them belong to old families or have won dis- 
tinction for themselves in military, literary, or professional life. There 
was formerly one member of the Senate, M. Dufaure, who had sat in 
that illustrious body under five different Governments, and occupied the 
same identical seat through all the changes. He died in 1881, and was 
eighty-three years of age at the time of his death. There are other 
members who have served under two or three Governments, but he was 
the only one who could count five on his list. 



104 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



-sSSv 







M. GAMBETTA PRESIDING OVEK THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. 



"In one feature the French. Senate and Chamber of Deputies are 
unlike our American Congress. "With us, when a member makes a 
speech he stands at or near his own desk. The French custom is for a 
member to go to the tribune, a stand which is directly in front of the 
presiding officer and a little lower down. To mount the tribune is 
equivalent to ' having the floor ' with us." 

While this conversation was going on, our friends were strolling 
through the Garden of the Tuileries (we forgot to mention that they had 
descended from their carriage), and were looking at the groups of nurse- 
maids and children under the trees and along the gravelled walks. 
Frank told the driver to meet them at the gate opposite the Rue 
Castiglione, and when they reached that point they found him waiting 



PLACE VEND^ME AND ITS COLUMN. 



105 



for them. They entered the carriage and drove to the Place Yendome, 
where Mrs. Bassett's attention was drawn to the bronze column which 
stands in the centre of the square. 

" I know it by the pictures I've seen," said she. " I can't be mis- 
taken ; it's the Yendome Column. But I thought it was destroyed by 
the Communists in 1871." 

" So it was," said Fred ; " or, rather, it was thrown down by them ? 
but the pieces were carefully preserved. It was erected in 1806, by 
Napoleon I., and is an imitation of Trajan's Column at Rome. Napo- 
leon wanted to commemorate his victories over the Austrians and Rus- 
sians in 1805, and the bronze on the outside was made by melting 
down a thousand and more cannon, which had been captured in that 
campaign." 

" It suggests a corkscrew," said Mrs. Bassett, " with that spiral ar- 
rangement running from the bottom to the top. What does it rep- 
resent ?" 

" The pictures are scenes from the battles in 1805, between the 
French army and the troops to which it was opposed. If the plates of 




THE PALACE OF LUXEMBOURG. 



bronze were stretched out in a single line they would make a length of 
about nine hundred feet. Many of the figures on the plates are por- 
traits. The column is a little more than one hundred and forty feet 



106 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

high, and the statue on the top of the structure represents Napoleon I. 
in his imperial robes." 

" How did the Communists throw it down ?" 

" They cut through the masonry at the bottom and then attached 
ropes to the upper part of the monument, after placing a bed of straw 
and soft earth along the line where they intended it to fall. This was 
not with any view of saving the plates from injury, but to do as little 
damage as possible to the surrounding buildings by the shock of such 
an immense mass striking the ground. When all was ready the ropes 
were pulled and the column toppled over." 

" The history of the column is interesting. The statue of Napoleon 
was taken down in 1814, and a huge fleur-de-lis took its place. In 1830 
Louis Philippe caused a statue of Napoleon in a cocked hat to be placed 
there, but this was taken down by Louis Napoleon in 1863, and the one 
that is now there was put up. This remained undisturbed until 1871, 
when the Communists did as you have seen, and the column was re- 
stored in 1875 in the same condition as before." 

" Wait a bit," said Fred, " and I'll tell you a little story about the 
Communists, and how they came to grief." 

Of course all were willing to hear the story, whereupon Fred nar- 
rated the following incident of the Commune : 

"When the column was thrown down, there was a photographer 
on the spot to take a view of the scene. The principal Communists 
grouped themselves on or near the fallen column, so as to be included in 
the picture, and they were evidently very proud of the performance. 
After the city had fallen into the hands of the regular Government a 
copy of this photograph was used to trace the men who had over- 
thrown the column, and it was of great aid in securing their capture and 
conviction. Each figure on the photograph was enlarged to life size or 
something very near it, and it was very difficult for a man to deny his 
likeness when it was placed before him on his trial. Several would 
have escaped were it not for the telltale picture." 

" Not the first time that a photograph taken in a moment of security 
has led to a man's conviction," Frank remarked. " And now," he con- 
tinued, turning to his mother, " where would you like to go next ?" 

" If we are near the tomb of Napoleon," said Mrs. Bassett, " I would 
like to see it. I've become specially interested in him since we've seen 
so many things to remind us of the empire he founded." 

" It isn't far away," said Frank, " and we'll go to it by way of the 
Pont de la Concorde, which will give us an opportunity to cross that 



HOTEL DES INVALIDES. 



107 



bridge and look at the outside of the building where the Chamber of 
Deputies holds its sessions. Then in a few minutes we shall be at the 
Hotel des Invalides, and there is the tomb which you wish to see." 

Mrs. Bassett asked if the hotel was a popular one, and patronized by 
Americans and other foreigners. Frank explained that it was not a 




VENDOME column in 1840. — [From an old print.] 



hotel in the American and English sense, but a home or hospital for old 
soldiers ; it was founded more than two hundred years ago by Louis 
XIY., to afford a home to soldiers who had given long and faithful 
service to their country. Soldiers who have served thirty years, or who 
have been disabled by wounds received in battle, are entitled to be sup- 
ported at the Invalides for the rest of their days. 



108 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

As our friends left their carriage and walked through, the handsome 
esplanade in front of the buildings, they took note of the cannon and 
statues with which the grounds were adorned. Mrs. Bassett's attention 
was attracted towards several of the old soldiers who were wandering 
about the grounds or sitting on the benches under the trees. Frank 
explained that all the cannon in sight were trophies of war, and that 
every nation with which France had come in conflict in the past two 
hundred years was represented. There were cannon from Algeria, 
cannon from China, and cannon from Austria, Eussia, Prussia, and 
England, together with other countries. 

"But I'm sure there are none from the United States, as we have 
never been at war with France," said Mrs. Bassett, as she paused before 
a cannon which bore an inscription in Arabic, and was one of the tro- 
phies of the conquest of Algeria. 

" No, I don't think you will find any American cannon here," was 
the reply. " France and the United States have never been at war — at 
any rate, not in a war that amounted to anything — and are very unlikely 
ever to be. The two countries had a bond of sympathy from the foun- 
dation of our Government, and you know that France sent a fleet and 
an army to help us in winning our independence. France was at war 
with England, and consequently her sympathies were with us, and she de- 
monstrated them in a very practical way. She furnished us with arms 
and ammunition at the very beginning of our revolution ; and after the 
surrender of General Burgoyne's army she entered into a treaty of alli- 
ance, commerce, and amity with us, and sent a fleet and an army to help 
us along. A medal commemorative of the alliance of the two countries 
Avas struck at the time, and we will look for it when we are next where 
there is a good collection of coins and medals." 

The visitors were shown through the building, which was intended 
for the accommodation of five thousand soldiers, but has not been fully 
occupied for a long time. Only a few hundred invalides are now 
there ; they are well-fed and lodged, and on Sundays they have a parade 
and review which must be attended by all who are able to be present. 

After looking through the refectories, kitchens, and other belongings 
of the establishment, our friends visited the Artillery Museum, which is 
located in the western wing of the building. 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary were not specially interested in weapons, but 
they accompanied Frank and Fred in their walk through the museum, 
and saw a goodly number of things that attracted their attention. 
Among them were the suits of armor worn by Marshal Turenne, the 



THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON. 



109 




MEDAL COMMEMORATING ALLIANCE OF FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES. 



Duke de Guise, and other men known to fame and history, the flags 
carried in battle by French soldiers, and those captured from the enemy 
in time of war. Especially interesting to Mary was the white standard 
of Joan of Arc, the banner under which the Maid of Orleans led her 
followers to the victories that broke the English power. 

Frank and Fred made a careful survey of the suits of armor worn 
by the kings of France, from Francis I. to Louis XIY., and of other 
armor kept in the 
same room. Then 
they lingered over 
the collection of 
weapons of all 
countries and 
many ages, and 
would have re- 
mained longer 
were it not for the 
knowledge that 
Mrs. Bassett and 
Mary were grow- 
ing impatient to reach the tomb of Napoleon, the great object of interest. 

So they went from the museum to the Church of the Invalides, 
pausing briefly as they passed the collection of torn and weather-beaten 
flags, and giving hasty glances at the monuments and memorial tablets 
bearing the names of officers who were distinguished in war, and are 
thus commemorated for their patriotism and bravery. 

Very soon they reached the dome beneath which the remains of the 
great warrior are at rest. As every visitor to Paris is aware, the dome 
is a conspicuous object from nearly all parts of the city ; it rises to a 
height of 340 feet, and has a diameter of 86 feet ; the dome is gilded, 
and the gilding serves to make it more noticeable even than its great 
height, no matter whence it is viewed. 

Under the dome is the crypt of Napoleon, 20 feet in depth and 36 feet 
in diameter, and with walls of solid granite, on which there are figures 
in bold relief. In this crypt is the coffin or sarcophagus, a single block 
of Finland granite weighing nearly seventy tons, and reminding Frank 
and Fred of the huge coffins in the tombs of the sacred bulls in Egypt. 

Our friends spent a busy half-hour in their inspection of the tomb 
of Napoleon, and the elaborate works of the sculptor's art which sur- 
rounded it in every direction. Mrs. Bassett asked when the remains of 



110 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the Emperor were deposited in the tomb, whereupon Frank spoke as 
follows concerning the great warrior : 

" Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, captured by the 
British, and sent to the island of St. Helena, where he was kept a pris- 
oner till his death in 1821. He was buried on the island, and in 1810 




NAPOLEON AS FIRST CONSUL. 



his remains were brought to Paris with a great deal of ceremon} r , and 
deposited in this crypt under the dome of the Church of the Invalides." 

" Who was King of France in 1840 ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" Louis Philippe." 



WHAT OVERTHREW LOUIS PHILIPPE. 



Ill 



" Did lie approve and favor the transfer of Napoleon's bones from 
the island of St. Helena to Paris ?" 

" I cannot say what his private views were upon the subject. The 
French people demanded it through their representatives in the Corps 
Legislatif , and the Government carried out their wishes. A million peo- 
ple, including one hundred thousand soldiers, took part in the reception 
of the remains and the interment in the church, and the royal family 
and all the high dignitaries of the kingdom were present. JSo relatives 
of the dead Emperor were there, as they were all in prison or in exile." 

" "Well, it seems to me," said Mrs. Bassett, after a pause, " that the 
ashes of the dead Emperor deprived the living King of his crown." 

" Yes," said Fred, " and helped to place Louis Napoleon on the 
throne, and keep him upon it until he and the throne fell together on 
the day of Sedan." 




MEDAL OF NAPOLEON, AS KING OF ITALY. 



112 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEK VII. 

VISIT TO THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. —A MILITARY REVIEW. — HISTORIC INTEREST 
OF THE CHATEAU OF VINCENNES. — THE FRENCH ARMY; ITS STRENGTH AND 
COMPOSITION; THE ACTIVE ARMY AND THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF RESERVES; 
EVOLUTIONS ON THE FIELD; THE GRAND MANOEUVRES; HOW THEY ARE 
CONDUCTED; A SHAM BATTLE; AN IMPOLITIC GENERAL, AND WHAT HAP- 
PENED TO HIM. — THE FRENCH NAVY; THE FIRST ARMORED SHIPS OF WAR, 
AND WHO MADE THEM; HOW THE NAVY IS MANNED. — CEMETERY OF PERE 
LA CHAISE ; TOMBS OF FAMOUS PEOPLE ; STORY OF ABELARD AND HELOISE ; 
A WALK THROUGH THE CEMETERY.— THE GUILLOTINE AND ITS INVENTOR- 
PRISON OF LA ROQUETTE. — PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE. — MARKET OF THE 
TEMPLE.— MARKETS OF PARIS IN GENERAL. 



r r\HE morning after the visits and studies recorded in the previous 
-*- chapter, Frank announced that there was to be a review of troops 
at Vincennes, and said he had made arrangements for a carriage to 
take them thither and get a good view of the scene. 

"We shall have a pleasant drive through a 
part of Paris we have not yet seen," said Frank, 
"as the Bois de Vincennes lies on the opposite 
side of the city from the Bois de Boulogne. 
There is a very pretty forest at Vincennes, and 
an old castle which was founded in the twelfth 
century, and has been a prison, porcelain manu- 
factory, military school, arsenal, and depot of 
artillery, besides several other things." 

" If we are going to a military review we 
sha'n't have much time to see the castle," 
said Fred ; " and besides, I am told the pub- 
lic is not often admitted." 

" So I understand," was the reply, " and 
it certainly will not be worth our while to 
ask the authorities for special permission to 
enter the building. The chief historical in- 
terest attaching to the place is that the un- 




THE BUGLE CALL. 



THE FRENCH MILITARY SYSTEM. 113 

fortunate Duke d'Enghien was shot there by order of Napoleon I., on 
the suspicion that he was concerned in a conspiracy against the Emper- 
or. In the contest between the regular troops and the insurgents, in 
1871, the chateau was the scene of the last fight of consequence." 

Soon after breakfast the carriage was driven to the door of the hotel 
and our friends proceeded on their way. Mrs. Bassett thought the drive 
to Yincennes was more picturesque than that to the Bois de Boulogne, 
for the reason that the locality through which they passed was less 
fashionable than the other. Of course it lacked the attractions of the 
Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysees ; but, on the other hand, 
it afforded a better insight into the ways of the working-people of Paris 
than did the more fashionable part of the city. 

"As we are going to a military parade or review," said Mary, "please 
tell us something about the French Army." 

"I was expecting that question," replied Frank, "and so I looked up 
the subject while dressing this morning. If you want more than I can 
tell, I will refer you to my authority, the Statesman's Year BookP 

Mary thought her brother would be able to tell her quite as much 
as she could remember, and she would certainly try to remember it all. 

" Well, then," said Frank, " the military forces of France are organ- 
ized on the principle of requiring every able-bodied man to bear arms. 
In its general features the French system is like that of Germany, which 
you learned about when we were in the dominions of the German 
Emperor, and especially at Berlin." 

" Does every man have to go into the army, whether he wants to 
or not ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" That is the requirement of the law," was the reply ; " and it says 
distinctly that every Frenchman between the ages of twenty and forty- 
five is liable to be called up for military duty either in the active army 
or the reserves, unless excused for medical reasons. Every Frenchman 
is not actually compelled to serve in the army, but he is liable to be 
called to service. The service is divided into the active army and the 
reserves. When a man has performed a year's service in the active 
army, learned his duties, and is able to read and write, he may be sent 
on furlough for an indefinite time ; he may go home and engage in 
any business he chooses, but he is enrolled in the reserves and may be 
called upon at any time. In case of war he is pretty sure to be called 
on, and in time of peace it is considered advisable to give the reserves 
a certain amount of training at regular intervals, to keep them reminded 
of their duties and in good physical condition." 



114 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" How many men capable of bearing arms does France possess ?" 
Fred inquired, as Frank paused. 

" Counting all the various classes of reserves," said Frank, " along 
with the active army, there are 2,500,000 men ; and then there is an- 
other million, who have served their time but might be called to de- 




MARCHING IN THE RAIN. 



fend forts and camps in case of war. The active army contains nearly 
600,000 men ; the actual figures are 573,277, and this number includes 
27,677 officers of various ranks." 

" How does that compare with the army of the United States ?" 
Mary asked, in her usual practical way. 

"France has a population of about 40,000,000," was the reply. 
" The strength of the active army being 600,000, it follows that there 
are six soldiers to every forty inhabitants, or one in seven under arms. 



ANNUAL COST OF THE FRENCH ARMY. 



115 



In the United States there are 63,000,000 of inhabitants and a standing 
army of 25,000 men; this gives us more than 2500 inhabitants for 
every soldier in the army." 

" What an enormous difference !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett. " We have 
reason to be very thankful that we can get along with so small a mili- 
tary force as we do. The French Army must cost the Government a 
great deal of money." 

" Yes, it does. For the year 
1891 the estimates for the or- 
dinary military expenses were 
578,000,000 francs, or more 
than $140,000,000. This does 
not include the navy, which re- 
quires $46,000,000 more. 

"Every year the expense of 
the army and navy is greater 
than in the preceding year, and 
this in a time of peace. If 
France should be at war with 
a European nation, the expense 
would increase enormously over 
the figures 1 have given you." 

"Why do the French need 
such a great army? Couldn't 
they get along with 50,000 or 
100,000 men under arms ?" 

"Probably not, and cer- 
tainly they do not think they 
can. France has dangerous 
neighbors, or certainly one 
dangerous neighbor — Germany. 
Each is compelled to have a 
large army, and keep it in 
readiness for active service ; be- 
cause it knows that a war is 
liable to occur at any time, and 
a pretext would be found for it by the stronger nation if the other 
allowed itself to grow perceptibly weaker. France and Germany have 
been enemies for a very long time ; each has grievances against the 
other, and would embrace the first opportunity to wipe them out. 




THE COMPANY KITCHEN 



116 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" The French Army is said to be in excellent condition to take the 
field," Frank continued, " but it can only keep in this condition by con- 
stant drill and exercise. If it had been as thoroughly organized in 1870 
as it is now, the nation would not have been so humiliated as it was by 
Germany. If Louis Napoleon had known the actual condition of the 
army, he would not have been in the haste that he was to declare war. 
He was grossly deceived by his high officers, who told him everything 
was in readiness, down to the last button on the soldiers' gaiters." 

While this conversation took place the carriage was rolling the party 
in the direction of Yincennes, and in due course of time they arrived at 
the field where the manoeuvres were to take place. They obtained a 
good position from which to witness the movements of the different 
arms of the service ; and as there were no fewer than thirty thousand 
men on parade, the display was an imposing one. 

Infantry, cavalry, and artillery performed various evolutions, which 
were so numerous that no one tried to keep a record of them. The 
ground was an open plain entirely free from trees, and there was plenty 
of space for the troops to move in. 

Mrs. Bassett said that the grandest of all the displays was when the 
infantry, and afterwards the cavalry, drawn up in a long line, charged 
directly towards the fence that separated them from the spectators. 
On they came at full speed straight towards the fence. It seemed as 
though they would pass it and sweep down everything before them; 
but just at the critical moment the officers gave the proper orders, and 
the line came to a halt only a few yards from the fence, and in 
almost as perfect array as when it started. She thought they must 
have practised the movement for a long time to attain such perfection. 

"Undoubtedly they have," said Frank. "It has taken months of 
drill to accomplish this movement or any other that you have wit- 
nessed to-day. The perfection of army discipline is to convert thousands 
of men into as many parts of a machine — the more perfect the ma- 
chine, the more effective it is as an army. 

"A part of the drilling of an army consists in having sham cam- 
paigns and battles. The force is divided into two nearly equal parts, 
and each endeavors to capture the other. ~No blood is shed, but a great 
deal of powder is expended, and the movements of the different bodies 
opposed to each other are exactly like those of actual warfare, with the 
single exception (and a very important one it is) that life and limb are 
not in jeopardy. Sometimes a manoeuvre lasts for several days, and the 
abilities of officers and soldiers are taxed to their utmost. 



A MTMIC CAMPAIGN. 



117 




t ""?•''' ..>-<v-I,i-..>: v'i; '.'■.- 



: '-- ■■-■- 






THE SCOUT. 



" It is no holiday 
sport," lie continued, • ;, 

" but actual work. 
Rain or shine, the 
march is kept up, and the sol- 
diers carry their full accoutre- 
ments, exactly as though they 
were on a campaign against 
their traditional enemy — Ger- 
many. The camps are formed 

at night in the places least exposed to the foe ; defences are thrown up 
here and there, and scouts are kept in advance to discover the enemy's 
position and report it to the commanding officers ; stragglers are capt- 
ured and brought in as prisoners of war, and are not allowed to rejoin 
their commands until they can do so without giving information of 
any consequence. Hospitals are established, not only for imaginary 
wounds, but for real cases of illness that are sure to occur while an 
army is on the march. The Red Cross men are trained in the work 
of removing the wounded from the field, wounds are dressed, and some- 
times there are real wounds, from accidental causes or in consequence of 
quarrels among the men, though the latter are rare, owing to the severe 
discipline which punishes both parties to a quarrel, in order to make 
sure of punishing the right one, and discouraging him for the future. 



118 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" In the villages the troops are quartered upon the inhabitants, the 
capacity of each house being ascertained beforehand. The proper num- 
ber of men for each house is sent there with a billet de logement, or 
ticket for lodgings, and in this way the soldiers are comfortably located 
for the night, though sometimes closely crowded." 

" It must be a heavy burden upon the inhabitants, and a great dis- 
turbance to them to have their houses filled with .soldiers," said Mrs. 
Bassett, as Frank paused in his story. 

" Sometimes it is," he answered ; " but in most cases the soldiers are 
welcome, and are treated hospitably by the people. Bear in mind that, 
in consequence of the universal requirement of the service, nearly every 
family has one or more of its members in the army, and the people treat 
those who are quartered upon them as they hope their own kith and 
kin are treated wherever they may be. 

" The soldiers for whom no quarters can be obtained in a village go 
into camp at convenient spots, either in the public square or in the open 
ground outside the village, and make themselves as comfortable as pos- 
sible. Rations are distributed, and the cooking for the camps is done 
over an open fire, which is sometimes a good deal disturbed by the fall- 
ing rain. In the evening the guards are set, and there is a patrol whose 
duty it is to gather in every straggler after a certain hour. Bright and 
early in the morning the camp is all alive with movement, and the 
march is begun as soon as each man has swallowed a cup of coffee and 
eaten a bit of bread for his early breakfast." 

" I wonder how they manage to make bread when they are marching 
in the way you describe," said Mary. " Perhaps they have it sent to 
them from a central station like this great one at Yincennes." 

" That is sometimes the case," Frank explained ; " but usually the 
bread is prepared on the march. It is baked in iron ovens, mounted on 
wheels like large wagons, and the baking can go on while the wagon is 
going on, too. The cooking arrangements of the French army are very 
complete ; their commissariat is a distinct organization, with special offi- 
cers, and when an army is in the field its affairs must be very badly 
managed if it is not fed fairly well. A great deal of study has been de- 
voted to the work of feeding soldiers in the field ; every general of ex- 
perience recognizes the force of the old saying that an army marches 
on its stomach, and if the stomach is not cared for the march will come 
to an end very quickly and disastrously." 

Frank told of other matters in connection with the mimic war of the 
annual manoeuvres, but we have space only for what has been recorded. 



COOKING WHILE ON THE MARCH. 



119 



Fred related a little anecdote about a mimic campaign — he believed it 
was in Austria or Kussia — where the Emperor commanded in person on 
one side, and a general of high rank was on the other. The general was 
more zealous than discreet, as he managed to capture the Emperor and 
his entire staff while they were breakfasting at a farm-house and had 
neglected to surround themselves with an appropriate guard. The Em- 
peror commended the general for the skill he had displayed, but the 
next day deprived him of his command, without assigning any reason 
for so doing, and never afterwards gave him any position of consequence. 
" He ought to have known better," said Mary. " Certainly I wouldn't 

have done as he did if I had been in his place. "When I was at Mrs. 's 

school, one of the teachers was very fond of playing checkers with the 
older girls ; she couldn't play very well, but it was always considered 
the proper thing to allow her to win, as it made her much more amiable." 







THE "BILLET DE LOGEMENT. 



120 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Hi ' 



"Human nature is the same the world over," said Frank. And with 
this trite saying the discussion of army movements in France and 

other countries was brought 
to an end. 

From the army the atten- 
tion of our friends was natu- 
rally turned to the navy, and 
on this subject Fred has kindly 
supplied the following notes: 
"The navy of France is 
one of the great navies of the 
world, as it contains a goodly 
number of large ships with 
thick armor, and mounting 
guns of the largest calibre. It 
has nearly forty sea-going ar- 
mored ships — some of steel, 
others of iron and steel, and 
others of iron and wood ; and 
in addition to these it has 
twenty armored ships for coast 
defence, and a hundred and more 
torpedo-boats of different sizes 
and kinds. Altogether there are four 
hundred and thirty-two vessels in the 
French navy, and if they were stretch- 
ed out in a single line they would 
reach a very long distance. 

"You may not be aware that 

France was the first country in the 

world to build iron-clad ships, but that 

is the case. She had some constructed 

during the Crimean War, and sent them against the Eussian forts near 

St. Petersburg; and though they didn't capture the forts, they showed 

that they were much better than ships built entirely of wood." 

Frank interrupted the reading of Fred's story to make a correction, 
to the effect that an iron-clad ship was begun in the United States in 
1854, and that the proposals for its construction were laid before 
Congress in 1812, which was a long time before the beginning of the 
Crimean War. 




THE PATROL. 




MiAiiitiK 



THE ATTACK. 



122 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" When you come to that," said Fred, " we will go back to the Nor- 
mans, who put belts of iron around their fighting boats as early as the 
twelfth century. The Crusaders protected their boats in the same way, 
and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Pedro of Aragon and An- 
drea Doria protected their boats with rawhide or leather, or with bul- 
warks composed of cordage, old sails, and beams of wood. But I adhere 
to what I said, that the French were the first to build regular ships of 
war with armor-plating, and they launched no fewer than five of them 
in the spring of 1855. In 1858 they built La Gloire, a wooden frigate, 
two hundred and fifty feet long, and having her sides plated with iron 
four and a half inches thick. That vessel was the pioneer of the 
armor -plated frigates and other great armored and belted ships of 
the present time." 

"You seem to know all about your subject," said Frank, "and I 
won't interrupt you again— unless I see a good chance." 

" That's all right," retorted Fred, " and I don't want you to miss a 
single chance to throw more light on the subject." 

Then he continued his comments on the French navy. 

"The four-and-a-half-inch plating of La Gloire would be of little 
account with the French war-ships of to-day. One of them has a steel 
plating twenty -two inches thick, and there are six ships each with plat- 
ing more than eighteen inches thick. Then in the smaller ships there 
are other thicknesses of plating — sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, nine, 
and eight inches, and in no case do they call a vessel armored if it has 
less than eight inches of plating. The vessels that made such a sensa- 
tion thirty years ago have been broken up as of no further use." 

" Such a large number of ships must require a great number of men 
to manage them," Mrs. Bassett remarked, as Fred paused to take breath. 

" Of course they do," was the reply, " and the men for the navy are 
secured by conscription in the same way as those for the army, though 
there are some voluntary enlistments. Altogether, including officers, 
engineers, sailors, and persons connected with the service in one way or 
another, the French navy requires an equipment of forty thousand men. 
Nearly two thousand of these are officers of the various grades, from 
cadets and ensigns up to admirals, and there are many more cadets and 
ensigns than admirals, as in all navies." 

" Didn't you tell me that the commanders of some of the steamships 
of the French mail line between New York and Havre belong to the 
navy of the French republic ?" 

" I think I did, for such is the case. The Government gives leave 




the "devastation." — [French armored ship of the first class.] 



124 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

of absence in time of peace to any officer who wishes to enter the serv- 
ice of one of the steamship companies under the French flag. He re- 
ceives one-half of the full pay of his grade in the naval service, and in 
addition to this he has the salary which is paid by the steamship com- 
pany. Furthermore, he is in active employment on the sea, and all am- 
bitious officers prefer to enter the service of the mercantile companies 
rather than lie idle, though they may be under the full pay of their 
rank. Of course they are liable to be recalled at any time in case of 
war, when they would be needed in the naval service again." 

" How much does the navy cost the country every year ?" 

" According to the latest published figures, the estimates for a year 
are two hundred and thirty millions of francs, or forty-six millions of 
dollars. The total value of the vessels in the French Navy was esti- 
mated in the same publication at one hundred millions of dollars. Add 
the forty-six millions for the navy to the one hundred and forty millions 
for the army, and we see what it costs France every year to keep ' in 
fighting trim,' as the phrase is. It is a high price, but it must be paid, 
or the country would quickly be in the hands of its traditional enemy, 
Germany, which would certainly pounce upon her." 

On the return from Yincennes to the city Frank suggested that they 
had time to visit the famous cemetery of Paris known as Pere la Chaise. 
" It will not be much out of our way," said he, " and I presume we will 
not care to remain there long." 

Mary said she wanted to see the graves of Abelard and Heloise 
and some others that she had read or heard of, but neither she nor 
her mother desired to pay anything more than a hasty visit to the 
place, as they were not fond of cemeteries. 

The mention of the cemetery caused Mrs. Bassett to remark upon 
the custom in France of every man on the street raising his hat when a 
funeral passes by. She thought it would be an excellent one to intro- 
duce into America, but feared that some of her countrymen might ob- 
ject to its adoption because it would take an instant or so of their valu- 
able time. The rest of the party were of the same opinion. Frank said 
the custom had been adopted by a good many Americans who had lived 
in France, but of course they were very few in number when compared 
with the whole population of the United States. 

As they approached the cemetery Frank pointed out two prisons on 
the opposite sides of the street. " The one on the right," said he, " is 
the Prison de la Boquette ; that on the left is the Prison des Jeunes 
Detenus and not so well known as the other." 



THE GUILLOTINE AND ITS INVENTOR. 



125 



" Isn't the Prison de la Koquette the place," Mary asked, " where 
they put criminals to death ?" 

" Yes," replied Frank ; " and do you not see that little square in 
the pavement made by some stones somewhat higher than the rest ?" 

"I see them," said Mary, as she looked in the direction indicated 
by her brother as he pointed with his finger. 

" Well, that is the spot where the guillo- 
tine is placed for the decapitation of murder- 
ers and other high criminals who must suffer 
the extreme penalty of the law." 

" The guillotine is the machine that they 
cut off people's heads with, I suppose," Mrs. 
Bassett remarked. 

"Yes," replied Frank, "and it bears the 
name of its inventor, or, rather, its improver, 
who is thus degraded by the work 
of his brain. Watt did not attach 




PKENCH IRON-CLAD SHIP IN DOCK. 



his name to the steam-engine ; the name of Morse has no connection 
with the electric telegraph, and the same and more may be said of 



126 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

other inventors who have conferred great benefits upon the world, and 
even their names have been forgotten; but Dr. Guillotin lives in his- 
tory, and his name is used to designate his means of reducing the human 
race by decapitation." 

" Haven't I read somewhere that Dr. Guillotin was himself behead- 
ed on one of his own machines ?" Mary inquired. 

" Quite likely you have read so, as it has been repeatedly stated, but 
such was not the case. He died peacefully in his bed in 1814. He sug- 
gested the use of the machine during the revolution of 1789, and made 
some improvements upon an apparatus for decapitation that was already 
in use. He was an improver rather than an inventor, and as such he 
ought to be known to the world." 

Just beyond the prison our friends passed several establishments for 
the sale of monuments, wreaths, and flowers, and they knew by these 
signs that they were approaching the cemetery. Mrs. Bassett asked the 
meaning of La Chaise, the name of the famous burial-place. 

" It belonged formerly to Pere la Chaise, the confessor of the King, 
Louis XYI.," said Frank, " and he had a country-house on the ground 
now occupied by the cemetery. It was bought by the city for its pres- 
ent use early in this century, and latterly has been extended by other 
purchases. It covers an area of more than one hundred acres, and con- 
tains twenty thousand monuments. Many of these monuments are 
above the graves of persons known to fame, and as we walk about we 
shall come upon many names that we have often read in books or news- 
papers of present or past days. 

" The place has not always been as peaceful as we find it to-day," 
Frank continued. " In 1814 there was a battle in the cemetery between 
French and Russian troops, in which the French were defeated, and in 
1871 the Communists made a stand here against the regular troops that 
were advancing upon them. There are certain days in the year when 
large numbers of people come to visit the cemetery. The most noted of 
these is the Jour des Morts, on November 2d, when there are probably 
a hundred thousand people in the cemetery during the course of the 
day to honor their dead friends." 

They left the carriage at the entrance of the cemetery and took a 
leisurely walk among the tombs that thickly cover the ground. To fa- 
cilitate their visit a guide was secured at the gate to accompany them 
on their round, and he led them quite expeditiously. Frank mentioned 
the desire of Mary to see the tomb of Abelard and Heloise, and they 
quickly reached it, as it is not far from the entrance. It is on the first 



ABELARD AND HELOISE. 



127 



lateral walk to the right, and consists of a Gothic canopy with a sar- 
cophagus beneath it, on which are recumbent figures of the lovers whose 
fame has lived through seven centuries. 

As they stood in front of the tomb Fred asked Mary to tell him 
about Abelard and Heloise, and why they were famous. 

" I don't know much about them," was the reply, " but believe Abe- 
lard was a great scholar and theologian, who got into trouble with the 
religious authorities of his time on account of his writings and lectures. 
He fell in love with Heloise, the daughter of a canon of the Church, and 
Heloise loved him in return. They ran away and were married ; after- 
wards he became a monk, and she entered a nunnery ; she lived twenty 



%P> 




s&ESsdx--/ mm 




FUNERAL PROCESSION IN PARIS. 



years after his death, and was buried at his side, and they rested peace- 
fully till their ashes were brought to Pere la Chaise and placed in one 
grave. And that is all I know about the romantic story of Abelard and 
Heloise, the famous lovers." 

" And that is a great deal more than most people know," said Fred. 
" The popular estimation of this couple and reverence for their memory 



128 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



is based entirely on the love-story of their lives, but the religious world 
is much more interested in their writings, particularly those of Abelard, 
which exerted a great influence upon the period in which he lived. They 
have been published several times, and show that Abelard was the Mar- 
tin Luther of his 
day and the leader 
in the doctrine of 
=. ^ p^_ rationalism. He 

was imprisoned for 
heresy, and but for 
the influence of 
powerful friends 
would have ended 
his days in captiv- 
ity." " 

By this time 
they were ready to 
resume their walk, 
which we will not 
follow in its de- 
tails. Mrs. Bassett 
was deeply im- 
pressed with the 
manner in which 
the chapels and 
tombs were crowd- 
ed closely together, 
and said it was a pity that space in the cemetery was so very limited. 
At every few steps they stopped to look at the monuments of men 
known to fame or connected in some way with the history of France. 
Now it was the memorial to Nelaton, the famous surgeon of the time of 
the second empire ; now that of Casimir Perier, an orator of renown 
and minister of Louis Philippe ; and not far away was the tomb of Per- 
rin, marshal under Napoleon I. Mary called attention to the tomb of 
Chopin, the composer of music, and Frank at the same time indicated 
the burial-place of Bettini, another composer. 

Here was the grave of Champollion, the Egj^ptologist, and near it the 
resting-place of Kellermann, Duke of Valmy and Marshal of France, 
whose cavalry was the strong arm of the armies of the great Napoleon. 
Not far away is the tomb of the Thiers family, with the grave of the 




EUGENE SCRIBE. 



CELEBRITIES IN PERE LA CHAISE. 129 

famous statesman of France ; here rests Scribe the dramatist, and beyond 
him Beranger the poet, and Massena, another marshal of the first em- 
pire. The list can be extended to great length, and only including 
names known to fame. Hours may be devoted to Pere la Chaise 
and the illustrious personages who found their resting-place within its 
walls and beneath its tombs. 

As they came out of the cemetery and drove down the Rue de 
la Roquette, Mrs. Bassett asked how many cemeteries there are in 
Paris or near it. 

"There are twenty-two in all," was the reply, "the most important 
being Pere la Chaise, Montparnasse, and Montmartre ; but the one we 
have just seen is the most famous, as you already know. A burial-place 
in any of the cemeteries costs not less than seven hundred francs, and 
even this sum entitles the purchaser to a sufficient area for a grave, and 
no more. All funerals in the Department of the Seine, to which Paris 
belongs, are conducted by an association, or company, and they have a 
fixed rate of charges from twelve and a half francs up to seven thou- 
sand two hundred francs. There are from eighty to one hundred deaths 
daily in Paris, and sometimes the latter number is exceeded consid- 
erably, especially in times of epidemics." 

From the Rue de la Roquette the carriage turned into the Boulevard 
Yoltaire, and our friends soon found themselves in the handsome Place 
cle la Republique, which appears on former maps of Paris as the Place 
du Chateau d'Eau. The attention of the strangers was drawn to the 
bronze statue of the republic, in the centre of the square. It is a fine 
work of art, and the reader will form an idea of its size by knowing that 
its height from the ground to the highest point of the top is thirty-two 
feet. Statues of " Liberty," " Equality," and " Fraternity " are the prin- 
cipal figures, and there are twelve bass-reliefs in bronze, representing as 
many epochs in the history of the republic, from the capture of the 
Bastile in 1789 to the overthrow of the empire in 1871. 

" We are not far from the site of the old temple," said Frank, " which 
has recently been devoted to the purposes of a market. In the thirteenth 
century the Knights Templars had a stronghold there, but they were 
suppressed and driven out, and the Government took possession of the 
place and used the building as a treasury and storehouse. In the revolu- 
tion of 1789 it was the prison of the royal family, and from there the 
King and others were led to their death. On account of its notoriety it 
was removed a few years after the revolution and converted into a 
market, which bore the name of The Temple, as the present one does." 



130 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" That isn't the principal market of Paris, is it ?" queried Mrs. Bassett. 

" Not by any means," Frank answered. " The great market is called 
Les Halles Centrales, or usually Les Halles, and is well worth seeing. It 
is too late now, and, besides, the evening isn't a good time to visit the 
market. "We'll go there in the morning some day, as early as we can 
get away from the hotel, and I think you will find it an interesting 
place for an hour or two, if no longer." 

" I'm sure I shall," was the reply ; " as I always like to look through 
a market. You can learn more from the market of a city than from any 
other one thing in it, and sometimes more than from all other things put 
together ; that is my experience." 

We fully indorse Mrs. Bassett's view on this point, and so, we are 
confident, will every intelligent reader of this volume. 




the temple. — [From an old print.] 



THE GREAT MARKET OF PARIS. 



131 



CHAPTER VIII. 

LES HALLES CENTRALES, THE GREAT MARKET OF PARIS; ITS EXTENT AND CHAR- 
ACTER; HOW IT IS MANAGED; WHAT THE VISITORS SAW.— DAILY CONSUMP- 
TION OF FOOD.— THE OCTROI; ITS ORIGIN AND USES.— THE COMEDIE FRANC AISE. 
—BUYING TICKETS.— ANTIQUITY OF THE THEATRE.— A REMINISCENCE OF LOUIS 
XIV.— ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY.— CURIOUS CUSTOMS.— "THE TRIPLE 
KNOCK."— A VIEW OF THE GREENROOM AND FOYER.— THE GOVERNMENT SUB- 
SIDY.— "HERN ANI." — AN AMERICAN'S MISTAKE. — GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF 
THE THEATRE.— FAMOUS FRENCH COMEDIANS. — THE NEW OPERA-HOUSE; 
MARY'S ACCOUNT OF WHAT THEY SAW THERE.— A WATER CIRCUS. 

AT breakfast the next morning Mrs. Bassett referred to the talk about 
- markets and market-places, and asked if they could visit the Halles 
Centrales on their excursion for the day. 




TICKET-OFFICE OF THE COMEDIE FRANCHISE. 



" I think we will see the great market at once," said Frank. " It is a 
pleasant morning, and after breakfast we will drive directly to the 
Halles and see what is to be seen there." 

In accordance with this arrangement, our friends found themselves 
in front of the great pavilion of iron and zinc from which the central 



132 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

part of Paris draws the principal portion of its daily subsistence. Mrs. 
Bassett was somewhat surprised at the vastness of the establishment, 
which covers an area of twenty-two acres, and all practically under a 
single roof. She did not remember to have seen anywhere a market 
that approached in vastness the great central one of Paris. 

"You observe," said Fred, "that there are several pavilions, all 
joined to each other. There are ten of these pavilions, with covered 
streets between them, and these streets are intersected by a wide avenue, 
or boulevard, so that wagons may go all through the market and be 
sheltered from the rain, if any happens to be falling." 

" I wonder how many stalls there are in the market," said Mary. 
" It seems to me there must be a great many." 

" Each of the pavilions contains 250 stalls, so that there are 2500 
stalls in all. This is for the retail department, which does not include 
the wholesale section, on the side opposite to where we now are." 

They strolled for a while among the stalls, stopping now and then 
to chat with some of the persons in charge of the place, and observing 
everywhere the order and cleanliness for which the French markets are 
famous. Meat, eggs, vegetables, poultry, fish, and all other kinds of 
edibles for the dinner -table were there in abundance, and Mrs. Bassett 
expressed a desire to know the extent of the traffic in articles of food 
in the holies in a single day. 

Frank was statistical, and said that the daily expenditure in Paris 
for bread, meat, and wine amounted to about 3,000,000 francs, or 
$600,000. " There are about 2,275,000 inhabitants in Paris," said he, 
" and the estimate is that each one consumes yearly on the average 175 
pounds of meat, 360 pounds of bread, and 196 quarts of wine. This 
market handles only a part of the food consumed in the city, as there 
are several other holies, and a good many wholesale dealers and large 
consumers import their provisions directly to their establishments and 
are independent of the markets." 

Frank spoke to one of the custodians of the place, and the man 
called an assistant who accompanied the party to the cellars where the 
official inspection takes place. On the way Frank explained to his 
mother that the entire space under the market was honey-combed with 
cellars, some for storage and others for inspection. 

The authorities are careful to see that nothing which is unfit for 
human food shall be sold in the markets. Consequently, everything 
must be examined by experts, and these men do their work thoroughly. 
Mrs. Bassett was particularly interested in the examination of eggs, 



/ 



EGG EXPERTS AT WORK. 



133 



which was done with amazing rapidity. Everybody knows about hold- 
ing an egg up to the light to determine its quality, but the most of us 
would hardly be able to examine eggs in this way with any sort of 
rapidity. The egg experts at the holies will examine the contents of a 
large basket, passing each egg in front of a burning gas-jet, in little 




EXTERIOR OF THE COMEDIE FRAN£AISE. 



more than the time it takes to mention the feat. Mary thought that 
the man they looked at would examine a hundred eggs and settle de- 
cisively upon their character in the time that it would take her to dis- 
pose of a single one. 

"They handle nearly 4,000,000 dozens of eggs every year," said 
Frank, "and other things in proportion. Here are the figures for the 
yearly business of the halles : Fish, 65,000,000 pounds ; meat, 66,000,- 
000 pounds ; poultry and game, 55,000,000 pounds ; butter, 27,000,000 
pounds ; and cheese, 15,000,000 pounds. Two hundred and fifty mill- 
ions of oysters are sold here, and in some seasons the figures are 
nearly doubled. And do you know that everything sold here must pay 
a tax before it can be placed in the market ?" 



134 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" I know," said Mary ; " you refer to the octroi duty that is levied at 
the gates of Paris, and many other continental towns and cities." 

" Yes, the octroi" replied Frank ; " the octroi of Paris yields a 
revenue of 60,000,000 francs, or $12,000,000 annually. It is levied 
upon food and drink, and upon coal, hay, grain, and everything else 
eaten by man or beast, or burned in grates or furnaces." 

Mrs. Bassett asked when the octroi was established in France, and 
why we do not have it in the United States. 

" I will answer your last question first," said Frank in reply. " The 
octroi tax is unpopular everywhere, and — " 

" That is the case with most taxes, so far as I ever heard," remarked 
Mrs. Bassett, with a smile. 

" Quite true ; but the octroi tax is particularly so, as it bears directly 
upon everybody, and in some of its features is more severe upon the poor 
than upon the well-to-do or the rich. For example, everything is taxed 
by weight or measure without regard to quality ; wine is taxed by the 
gallon or barrel, no matter whether it be the common wine costing a 
franc or less for a gallon, or the finest qualities of old wines worth 
a hundred times as much as the common sort. An octroi tax in any 
American city would be sure to drive from office every man concerned 
in levying it, and you know politicians are very much disinclined to do 
unpopular things that may throw them out of office. 

"As to your second query, the octroi is a very old institution in 
France, and was first levied, I believe, by the Norman kings a thousand 
and more years ago. Originally it was levied ' in kind ;' that is, it was 
paid in the articles on which it was imposed ; but for the last two 
hundred years it has been collected in money. It was abolished in the 
revolution of 1789, but re-established in 1798." 

On their way from their hotel to the markets our friends had passed 
the Comedie Francaise, better known as the Theatre Francais, or, to put 
it into English, " the French Theatre." Mrs. Bassett remarked that she 
had heard it was the best theatre in the world, and supposed it must be 
something wonderful if it was better than all the rest. She was in- 
clined to doubt the truth of the statement, as the house, while hand- 
some enough in external appearance, was very much inferior to other 
theatres that she had seen in Europe and America. 

" It is not the magnificence of the building," said Frank, " to which 
people refer when they speak of its being the best theatre in the world, 
but the character of the acting and the severe rules by which it is gov- 
erned." 



136 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" How does it excel other theatres of Paris in those respects ?" was the 
very natural question which the remark evoked. 

" To begin with," said Frank, " this theatre is a very old institution, 
as it has had an existence of nearly three centuries." 

" It doesn't look as old as that, certainly." 

" I don't mean the building, but the company of players," responded 
Frank. " The building was erected — this one, I mean — about a hundred 
years ago, and has recently been repaired and restored. But the com- 
pany of players dates from the year 1600, and some historians are inclined 
to place its origin in 1548, when a company of players was established 
in Paris, which was afterwards united with two others into the Comedie 
Francaise. The real Comedie Francaise was the creation of Louis XI V., 
and it is said that he established and encouraged it to aid in spreading 
the French language, which he regarded as the language of the world." 

" Perhaps that may account," said Mary, " for the tradition that the 
best French one can hear is that which is spoken on the stage of the 
Theatre Francais. That's what my teacher in New York used to tell me." 

" Certainly I know of no place where you will hear better French 
than at this theatre, and you shall have the opportunity this evening. 
When we have seen the great market we will come back and get tickets 
for the performance, provided they can be had." 

Thus it happened that when their visit to Les Halles Centrales was 
concluded they returned to the theatre. Fred took Mrs. Bassett and 
Mary for a stroll in the garden of the Palais Royal and a view of the 
shop-windows, while Frank went to the hureau de location of the theatre 
to secure tickets for the evening. 

The purchase of tickets at the hureau is a performance that requires 
patience. The would-be purchasers form in line, and one at a time 
they are admitted in their turns to a little enclosure in front of the win- 
dow where the tickets are sold. Nobody is ever in a hurry after he 
reaches the window, however much he may have been before getting 
there, and the waiting ones outside are treated to a display of the utmost 
deliberation on the part of the individual making a selection of seats. 
When Frank took his place on the line he was the twelfth from the 
window, and he thought he would be able to rejoin his friends in as 
many minutes, but it was half an hour before he had obtained his tickets 
and departed to find his party. 

Mrs. Bassett asked how much less the tickets cost when taken in ad- 
vance than when bought after the opening of the doors in the evening. 
She was surprised to learn that they cost two francs extra for each 



BUYING TICKETS FOR THE THEATRE. 



137 



ticket. "This is the 
custom of the coun- 
try, 5 ' said Frank, "and 
it insures the reserva- 
tion of the seats. If 
we had bought at the 
door before going in 
we could not have re- 
served places, but 
would have to take 
whatever the attend- 
ants chose to give. 
There are numerous 
ticket -offices along 
the boulevards, but a 
higher price, some- 
times five francs extra, 
is charged there for 
reserved seats ; and 
very often, when you 
have bought seats in 
what appears to be a 
good location, you 
find on reaching the 
house that they are 

in a very bad position. This trick is not unknown to the ticket specula- 
tors of New York, as many a victim can testify." 

" I hope you have seats in the orchestra," said Mrs. Bassett ; " I 
would rather be there than anywhere else in the house." 

" Ladies are not admitted to the orchestra seats in the Theatre Fran- 
gais," replied Frank. 

" And why not, I wonder ?" 

"It is the custom which has descended from the time when the 
theatre was first established," was the reply. " They are very con- 
servative at the Francais, and unwilling to do anything different from 
what was done in the time of Corneille and Moliere. There are several 
theatres in Paris which exclude ladies from the orchestra." 

The seats of our friends were in the first gallery, and afforded an 
excellent view of the house, including both stage and audience. Mrs. 
Bassett and Mary were inclined to repel the attentions of the feminine 




WAITING FOR HER CUE. 



138 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



attendants of the cloak-room, who insisted upon taking charge of their 
wraps and supplying them with footstools. Frank whispered that 
they had better submit to the imposition, for it is nothing else, as it 
was one of the customs of the country. 

Accordingly, they submitted and paid the fees, Mrs. Bassett remark- 
ing as she left the house that she wondered the French did not see 
the absurdity of compelling a woman to take care of her cloak for a 
part of the evening, but insisting upon taking it away for the rest of 
the time. It should be explained that the attendants bring the ladies' 
cloaks to them and collect the fees for their so-called " services " in the 
intermission preceding the last act. If a fair visitor be burdened with 
her wraps through the last act, she may just as well care for them 
through the preceding ones. 




DRESSING-ROOM OF AN ACTRESS. 



Before the raising of the curtain, Frank called attention to the 
ceiling of the interior, which represented France distributing laurels 
to her three great dramatists, Corneille, Moliere, and Racine. Our 



140 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

friends had not much time for contemplating these decorations, as 
the curtain rose in a very few minutes after their arrival. Though 
they went early to the house, they had used up a goodly amount of 
their time in an examination of the statues, busts, and other ornaments 
of the magnificent foyer, or public hallway, and in contemplating the 
great stairway which is the admiration and pride of every Parisian. 

Mary remarked that she thought there was a very good history of 
the French stage in the statuary and paintings to be seen in the theatre. 
Frank said she would think so still more if she were admitted behind 
the scenes and into the greenroom, where the actors assemble previous 
to the performance, or when not wanted on the stage during its progress. 

" The walls of the greenroom," said Frank, " are covered with por- 
traits of famous actors and dramatists from the time of Corneille to the 
present, and so numerous are they that hardly a square inch of wall can 
be seen. In a frame and covered with glass is the decree of Louis XI V., 
signed by him and countersigned by his Minister of State, Colbert, which 
established the theatre and bestowed a pension of twelve thousand francs 
a year upon the comedians. There is an old clock of the last century, 
with a bust of Moliere upon its top. The furniture is in the style of 
Louis XI Y. and Louis XV., and the oaken floor has no carpet, but is 
waxed until it could almost serve as a mirror." 

" You said that King Louis XIY. gave an annual present of twelve 
thousand francs to the comedians : do they get that amount of money 
every year at the present time ?" 

" Yes, and a great deal more. The annual subvention or allowance 
to the Theatre Francais is 240,000 francs, or $48,000. The Grand Opera- 
house has a subvention of 800,000 francs, the Opera Comique 300,000 
francs, and the Odeon Theatre 100,000 francs. The other theatres of 
Paris are not subsidized, and consequently are not known as ' Govern- 
ment ' theatres, like the ones I have mentioned." 

" Has the Theatre Francais been subsidized ever since the time the 
subsidy was first granted by Louis XIY.?" 

" Practically it has. For ten years after 1789 it had no subsidy, and 
for a part of that time the actors were imprisoned by order of the lead- 
ers of the revolution; the subsidy was also stopped for a short time 
during the war of 1871, but on that occasion the actors were not de- 
prived of their liberty. The theatre is just as prosperous under the 
republic as it was under the empire; changes of government do not 
affect it ; and no matter who may be their ruler, the French cling to 
the drama as an unfailing source of amusement." 



OLD CUSTOMS MAINTAINED. 



141 



When the curtain rose, Mrs. Bassett's attention was fixed upon the 
stage with an earnestness which showed her unfamiliarity with it. Not 
a word escaped her ; and she declared, in the intermission, that though 
she had never studied French, and did not ordinarily comprehend it, she 
understood a great deal of the dialogue of the play she witnessed. She 
is by no means the first American who has made the same comment 
upon the French of the Comedie Francaise. Mary said she had never 
heard the Gallic tongue to such per- 
fection, and she thought Louis XIV. 
had a wise head on his shoulders 
when he decided to establish this 
theatre in order to spread the 
knowledge of the French language, 
as stated in the history of the fa- 
mous house. 

Nothing escaped Mrs. Bassett's 
■eyes or ears, and one of her first 
questions related to the three sol- 
emn knocks which precede the rais- 
ing of the curtain. Frank explained 
that they were a part of the tradi- 
tions of the theatre, and dated from 
the time of Moliere, when the hal- 
berdiers of the King or other high 
personages used to strike the floor 
with their staffs as they walked in 
front of the great man, and thus 
announced his coming. The signal 
is given by the stage-manager with 
a heavy staff, and there is an inter- 
val of about a second between the 
knocks. The curtain of this theatre 
is never " rung up," for the reason 
that there is no bell to ring. 

The play which our friends wit- 
nessed was " Hernani." The reader 

who is familiar with this drama will agree with Frank and Fred that it 
was not at all hilarious ; and Mrs. Bassett was at a loss to understand 
where the fun came in, as she had heard there was a great deal of fun 
in the French theatres. " Hernani," it is proper to remark, is a very 




STAGE-MANAGER MAKING " THE THREE KNOCKS." 



142 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



solemn sort of trag- 
edy in verse, its 
scene being laid in 
the time of Charle- 
magne. Apropos 
of this, Frank re- 
lated an anecdote 
about a gentleman 
who shall be name- 
less. 

" He was in Par- 
is in the summer of 
1867," said Frank, 
" when the per- 
formance of 'La 
Grand Duchesse de 
Gerolstein' by Ma- 
demoiselle Schnei- 
der was one of the 
theatrical sensa- 
tions of the time. 
This gentleman 
went one evening 
to see the wonder- 
ful Schneider, who 
was performing at 
the Palais Royal 
Theatre, not far 
from the Francais. Arriving at the theatre, he bought his ticket ' and 
entered, and just as he did so the curtain rose upon the performance. 
He had no programme ; programmes are not distributed free in the 
Parisian as in the American theatres, but must be bought, and he had 
not taken the trouble to buy one before entering the house. 

" The gentleman looked and listened, and listened and looked, 
through the first act, and wondered when the fun would begin — he 
had heard that the play was one of the most amusing that had been 
seen on the stage for a long while — but to his surprise there was noth- 
ing to raise the faintest semblance of a smile from the time the curtain 
went up till it fell at the end of the act. Then he went into the vesti- 
bule and bought a programme. He found that he was in the Theatre 




HAT AND CLOAK ROOM. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE THEATRE FRANgAIS. 



143 



Francais instead of the Palais Royal, and was listening to the stately 
and solemn verse of Victor Hugo in ' Hernani,' instead of the drolleries 
of ' La Grande Duchesse.' He laughed at his mistake, and remained to 
see the end of the performance, reserving the ' Grande Duchesse ' for 
another evening, when he made no mistake." 

After the laugh which, followed the story was ended, Frank told his 
mother that the company of the Comedie Frangaise was something more 
than the ordinary theatrical company which is engaged at the beginning 
of a season and discharged at the end of it, and very often before the 
season is closed, as in the United States. 

" At the head of the management is an administrator, who is ap- 
pointed by the Government, and is generally a literary man of distinc- 
tion. Then there is a company of twenty -four stockholders, or societaires, 
who share the profits of the theatre after the expenses are paid ; these 
societaires are chosen 
from among the oldest 
of the comedians, or 
those who have given 
the longest service, and 
they are elected for a 
period of twenty years, 
after which they retire 
upon a pension. The 
other members of the 
company are paid by 
salary, and the salaries 
are graded according to 
the importance of the 
individual. At the last 
annual report of the af- 
fairs of the company, 
fifty -one persons who 
had served their time 
and been placed on the 
retired list were receiv- 
ing an aggregate of 126,- 
000 francs annually." 

Mrs. Bassett was 
much interested in 
Mounet-Sully, who rep- 




MOUNET-SULLY AS HERNANI. 



144 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



resented the title role in ' Hernani.' She thought he did his part admira- 
bly, and was as melancholy as one could wish, but she didn't believe he 
could be the clown of a circus if he tried ever so hard. Other patrons 

of the Francais who have seen him 
will undoubtedly agree with her. 

"He never plays in comedy," 
said Frank, in explanation of the in- 
ability of Mounet-Sully to be humor- 
ous. "You ought to see Coque- 
lin Cadet, or Coquelin the younger, 
in a comedy part, and then I'm 
sure you would have a good laugh 
over his work. A famous come- 
dian of this theatre was Frederick 
Lemaitre, who died in 1876; he 
may be said to have created the 
character of Eobert Macaire, and 
those who saw him say he kept 
the audience in a roar of laughter 
all the time he was on the stage. 
But he was also a great tragedian, 
and it was difficult for any one 
who had seen him in a tragic part 
to realize his powers as a come- 
dian, or when seeing him as a 
comedian to believe that he could 
play in tragedy." 

We will not attempt to record 
all that was said by our friends 
during their evening at the Come- 
die Francaise. Frank told his moth- 
er about Coquelin the elder — the 
two Coquelins are brothers — and 
other gentlemen of the company, and he answered several questions which 
Mary asked concerning Madame Bernhardt, Mademoiselles Reichemberg 
and Croisette, and other actresses whose names have become famous on 
the French stage. Altogether, the evening was passed very agreeably, 
and Mrs. Bassett and her daughter found the curtain falling on the last 
act of the play at an hour much later than they supposed it was. 

It may be said in this connection that Paris contains about twenty 




F. LEMAlTRE AS ROBERT MACAIRE. 



THEATRES OF PARIS.— THE GRAND OPERA-HOUSE. 145 

large theatres, and as many smaller ones, and almost any kind of dra- 
matic taste may be satisfied. Then there are concerts of various grades, 
and for the lovers of music on a grand scale there is the Opera-house, 
which was begun under the second empire and completed under the re- 
public, and is beyond question the finest opera-house in the world. Our 
friends visited it one evening, and here is Mary's account of what they 
saw and heard during their stay : 

" We had seen the outside of the Opera-house several times, and I 
knew that if the interior was at all in keeping with the exterior it must 
be very grand indeed. I tried to imagine what it was and read several 
descriptions, but in spite of imagination and descriptions the reality was 
more than I expected to find. It is no more possible to describe the in- 
terior of the Opera-house than it is to tell in words the flavor of a fruit 
or the perfume of a flower, and I don't think I'll try. You may suppose 
that all the great adjectives in the language, and some borrowed from 
the French, are thrown in here together ; then multiply by two or three, 
and you may possibly get an idea of the grandeur of the new Opera- 
house of Paris as it is to-day. 

" Frank says it is not the most capacious theatre in the world, though 
the largest in area, as it seats only 2156 persons, and therefore has a 
smaller capacity than several other theatres or opera-houses, especially 
those of Vienna, Naples, Milan, and Barcelona. Together with the three 
acres of ground on which it stands it cost very nearly ten millions of 
dollars, and the stone of which it is built came from half a dozen dif- 
ferent countries. Red and green granite, red porphyry, and marbles of 
different construction were used in the exterior and interior of the 
building, and nearly all the prominent sculptors of France were em- 
ployed in one way and another. The outside is very fine in its way, 
though it has been criticised a good deal — mostly by those who had noth- 
ing to do with the erection of the building. On the front there are 
groups of statuary or single statues, representing ' Poetry,' ' Drama,' 
* Declamation,' ' The Dance,' and other subjects. Soon after the statuary 
was unveiled there was much discussion concerning it, and one night a 
quantity of ink was thrown over some of the figures. Of course there 
was more discussion than ever, and it was very broadly insinuated that 
the ink had been thrown by friends of the sculptor in order to attract 
public attention to the work. 

" We went into an enormous vestibule, which seemed capable of con- 
taining half the audience at once. We had secured tickets in advance, 
and had no occasion to stop at the ticket-office, which is in the vestibule. 

10 



146 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



The grand staircase about which we had heard a great deal was right in 
front of us, and we followed the others who were ascending it. 

u And what a staircase it is ! All in solid marble — that is, the steps are 

marble, but the 
balustrades are of 
rosso antico, and 
there is a hand- 
rail of onyx! 
Frank says the 
lower part of the 
staircase is thir- 
ty-two feet wide ; 
about half - way 
up to the next 
floor it divides 
into two parts, 
which turn in op- 
posite directions 
and are narrower 
at the lower por- 
tion. 

"But if the 
staircase is grand, 
the great foyer 
or promenade hall 
is grander yet. It 
is 175 feet long 
by 42 feet wide, 
and it seemed to 
me that the ceil- 
ing was fully fif- 
ty feet above my 
head. Frank said 
I had guessed 
very well, as the 
actual height of 
the ceiling above 
the floor is fifty-nine feet. All this grand hall is profusely decorated 
with painting and gilding, and adorned with sculpture which it would 
take me an hour to describe, and even then I shouldn't be half through 




STAIRCASE OF THE NEW OPERA-HOUSE. 



AN ANGRY AMERICAN. 147 

my description. And speaking of the foyer reminds me of an incident 
that made an American, a stranger to us, very angry. 

"Between two of the acts we went out to promenade in the foyer. 
Gentlemen may put on their hats there if they choose, and the American 
I refer to followed the example of the rest. Unfortunately for him, his 
hat was a soft one, such as is worn in the Western States and Territories, 
and to a less extent around New York. One of the attendants of the 
foyer politely told him that he must remove the hat ; the American 
pretended that he did not understand, and answered in very plain 
American language that he was 'all right.' The attendant then mo- 
tioned to the hat, and indicated by signs that it could not be worn 
there ; the American protested, and said many things uncomplimentary 
to the French ; but the affair ended by his removing the hat, as he was 
made to understand that he would be excluded from the place if he did 
not comply with the rules of the management. 

" Since this occurrence I have learned that there are many places 
where a man wearing a soft hat or cap is not allowed to enter, or if so 
allowed, he is liable to uncivil treatment. Frank says that the reason 
of it is that the cap and the soft hat are not considered the attributes of 
a gentleman ; they belong exclusively to the working or middle classes, 
and are never worn by any one who makes a pretence of belonging 
among the aristocracy, which is very rigid in its rules. 

" There are several saloons and rooms open to the public, and either 
connected with the foyer or with some of the galleries. Everywhere 
that we went we found paintings and statuary, and as for the ceilings, 
they were fairly covered with decorations wherever a figure could be 
placed. "We had secured a box for our party, and were very comfort- 
ably placed ; there are four tiers of boxes, and there is a gallery above 
the fourth tier, and as for the lower tier, it is just sufficiently above the 
orchestra or parterre to give a clear view of the stage even if the people 
there should happen to be standing up. Ladies are not admitted to the 
orchestra seats, and the rule is inflexible. 

" Frank says the stage is 178 feet wide and 74 feet deep, and the arch 
above it is almost two hundred feet high. Of course they have all the 
paraphernalia they want for the production of the operas that are given 
here, as the house is heavily subsidized by the Government, in addition to 
the revenue from the sale of tickets and the subscriptions for boxes. 
There are about two hundred and fifty performers attached to the house, 
besides a small army of attendants, so that it takes a great deal of money 
to support the establishment. Opera is given here three times a week, 



148 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and in winter there is an extra performance on Saturday. Among the 
professional singers it is considered a piece of the highest good-fortune 
to be engaged to appear at the Grand Opera-house, and there is always 
a great deal of strife for places. The leading singers are engaged by the 
year, and sometimes for longer terms, and their salaries are high, but not 
as high as is sometimes the case in New York. 




CEILING OF AUDITORIUM — NEW OPERA-HOUSE. 



" The opera they performed the night we went there was ' Hamlet,' 
by Ambroise Thomas. Mamma thought it was by Theodore Thomas, 
whom she had seen in New York, and she was greatly interested in it 
until she found out her mistake. She did not lose her interest altogether 
when we set her right, but remarked, with a sigh, that she was disap- 
pointed, as she had never seen or heard of the French composer before. 
I should have remarked that the opera given here is national, the com- 
posers and language being French, and the scenes laid in France, where 
they can be so laid without sacrificing too much of the truth of history. 

" From our box we had a fine view of the stage, and could see and 



A VISIT TO THE CIRCUS. 149 

hear to our complete satisfaction. I cannot say that I greatly admire 
the music of ' Hamlet,' but I'm not competent to criticise, and therefore 
will not endeavor to explain the reasons for my indifference. But this 
I must say, that everything was rendered to perfection, and the mise en 
scene, as they call the general setting of the stage, was the finest I ever 
saw. Mother rubbed her eyes two or three times, as though uncertain 
whether she was awake or dreaming, and I confess to an inclination to 
do the same thing occasionally. 

" On the whole, I don't wonder that the Parisians are very proud of 
their Opera-house, as they certainly have a right to be. Neither do I 
wonder that the representatives of the classes who cannot afford to go 
to the opera, but are obliged to .pay their share of the taxes, look upon 
the heavy cost of the building and the annual expenditure for subsidies 
as a burden upon the people that ought to be removed." 

During the rest of their stay in Paris our friends visited some of the 
minor theatres, but did not find any of them as interesting as the Come- 
die Frangaise, of which we have had such a full description. They also 
visited the ISTouveau Cirque, which is one of the institutions of the 
French capital. It is a circus, with the ring so arranged that it can be 
flooded for aquatic performances in a few minutes, and it was to see this 
change that the party went there. 

" There were the usual performances of the circus," said Fred, " and 
then a great carpet of rough material which covered the flooring was 
rolled up. The flooring is of planks, bored full of holes, and it is ar- 
ranged somehow so that the water rises through it, and flows around 
it in all directions. In a few minutes there was water enough in the 
ring for a boat-race and a race with water-bicycles. Frank said it was 
the tank drama of America on the largest scale he had ever seen." 



150 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

A VISIT TO THE SALON.— SOMETHING ABOUT FRENCH ART.— COLLECTIONS OF THE 
LOUVRE AND THE LUXEMBOURG.— ART STUDENTS IN PARIS. — SCHOOLS OF 
ART.— MINISTER OF FINE ARTS AND HIS DUTIES.— PICTURES BOUGHT BY GOV- 
ERNMENT.— DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF FRENCH ART.— NOTED FRENCH 
ARTISTS OF TO-DAY.— A VISIT TO A FAMOUS STUDIO.— ECOUEN, AND THE ART- 
ISTS THERE.— EDOUARD FRERE.— SCHOOL OF THE LEGION OF HONOR.— MARY'S 
ACCOUNT OF THEIR VISIT TO ECOUEN.— PEASANT LIFE.— EXCURSIONS IN THE 
COUNTRY.— EDUCATION IN FRANCE.— HOW THE SCHOOLS ARE CONDUCTED.— 
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND THEIR ALLOWANCES FROM GOVERNMENT.— 
CHANGES AMONG THE PEASANTRY. 

MPS. BASSETT suggested that she wished to see the Salon. She 
didn't know what it was, but she heard people talking about it, 
and thought she ought not to miss such an interesting sight as the Salon. 
Frank said at once that they would see the Salon, and he ex- 
plained that it was an exhibition 
of paintings which was held an- 
nually in Paris for the display of 
the work of the artists. 

"Do they send all their pict- 
ures there — all that they are able 
to paint during the year?" Mrs. 
Bassett asked. 

" Not by any means," was the 
reply. "Each artist sends a sin- 
gle picture, and he makes sure 
that it is one of the best speci- 
mens of what he can do. A 
great many pictures are refused a 
place on the walls of the Salon, 
because they do not come up to 
the standard fixed by the commit- 
tee in charge of the exhibition. Sometimes their number is so great 
that an exhibition is made of the rejected paintings, and it requires 




JEAN LOUIS MEISSONIER. 



HISTORY OF THE SALON. 



151 



much more space than the regular one. Out of eight thousand paint- 
ings offered in one year, two thousand one hundred only were accepted." 
" Why is this exhibition called ' the Salon V " queried Mary. 




" THE ADVANCE GUARD." [A. de Neuville.] 



"Because," said Frank, "the exhibition was originally held in a 
salon, or large parlor, of the Louvre. It was called ' the Salon ' on that 
account, and, since the transfer of the exhibition to its present quarters 
in the Palais de l'Industrie, on the Champs-Erysees, the name has been 
retained, though its meaning is gone." 

" We have seen that building, have we not ?" was the next question 
for the youth to answer for his inquisitors. 

" Yes, we have seen the outside of it only. To-day we will look at 
the interior. The building was erected in 1855 for the first World's 
Fair in Paris ; it was a private enterprise at the time, but the structure 
was afterwards bought by Government. It contains a museum and 
some other exhibitions, and there is a large hall in the building which is 
used for various purposes on frequent occasions." 

Further comments upon the Salon were postponed until our friends 
reached it, and were looking at the works of art which make the repu- 
tation of the annual display. They spent a short time among the 
sculptures on the ground-floor of the building, and then ascended the 



152 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

staircase to the gallery of paintings. Mrs. Bassett was surprised at the 
great number on exhibition. The catalogue was a portly volume, con- 
taining several thousand references, and it was readily seen that a view 
of all the paintings in the time they had at their disposal was an utter 
impossibility. 

" It's a pity they cannot do here as they do in many of the art gal- 
leries in various parts of the Continent," Frank remarked. 

"How is that?" 

" Why, they give a catalogue of all the pictures, marking the very 
famous ones with two stars, the ordinarily famous with one star, and 
the rest with no stars at all. When you enter one of these galleries 
you have only to look at the catalogue to know what it is proper to 
admire. The ordinary pictures you need not regard at all, and probably 
will not, even though they be very meritorious, as they must be to have 
a place there ; you can just glance at those with a single star, and re- 
serve your enthusiasm for the paintings with the double star." 

" I observe that Baedeker's guide-books follow that system," Mary 
remarked, as Frank paused. 

" Yes, they do ; and it is of great assistance to travellers .whose time 
as well as their knowledge of art is limited. It enables them to bestow 
their admiration where the critics say it belongs, and not to waste it 
upon paintings unknown to fame." 

" Why can't they do the same with the paintings in the Salon ?" 

" Because these are all new pictures, and none of them have been 
exhibited at all, except in the studios of the artists who painted them. 
They have no fame as yet, no matter how much the painters may be 
famous nor how great their merit." 

" What is done with all these pictures after the exhibition is over ?" 

" Some of the best are bought by the Government and sent to the 
Palace of the Luxembourg, where the works of famous living painters 
are displayed. Ten years after an artist's death his paintings, or such 
of them as belong to the Government, are sent to the gallery of the 
Louvre, which may be considered the national gallery of French art. 
The collection in the Louvre dates from the sixteenth century, when the 
kings began to gather the best works of the artists of that time, and 
place them on exhibition with a view to improving the public taste 
in art and everything relating to it." 

" I have read that Napoleon I. endeavored to make the Louvre the 
finest art collection in the world," Mary remarked. 

" So he did," said Fred, " and he succeeded in a great measure. As- 



IN THE SALON. 



153 



his armies overran Europe they took possession of all the famous paint- 
ings and sculpture in the cities that they captured, and all these prizes 
were sent to the Louvre. After the general peace of 1815 a great many 
of these things were sent back ; but in spite of what was thus lost to 
the Louvre collection, it is still considered the finest in Europe. You 
will know how extensive it is when you have learned that it takes two 
hours to walk through all the rooms of the Louvre without stopping, 
and every yard 
of the way you 
are among paint- 
ings, sculpture, or 
other objects of 
interest." 

"But we are 
losing sight of 
the Salon," said 
Frank, as soon as 
Fred paused, ' ' and 
perhaps we may 
as well confine 
ourselves to what 
is before us." 

The rest of 
the party agreed 
to his suggestion, 
and all eyes were 
turned to the 
walls, on which 
the pictures were 
spread so thickly 
that little if any 
of the wall could 
be seen anywhere. 

What they saw 
and said we have 
no space to re- 
cord, as we would 

run the risk of filling this volume with an account of the Salon for the 
season of their visit, to the exclusion of other matters ; but we are per- 
mitted to say that Mrs. Bassett's views upon French art were delivered 




1 EXPECTATION." [ToulHlOUChe.] 



154 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

from an American point of view, and were not always complimentary 
to the French, artists of the day. The pictures that pleased her most 
were like those which have come from the easels of Rosa Bonheur, 
Troyon, Jules Breton, Chialiva, Edouard Frere, and others, who devote 
themselves to domestic, rural, and similar scenes; those whose works 
displeased her — well, we will not endeavor to give their names, as they 
were not recorded at the time, and may just as well be left to themselves. 

Of course, the visit to the Salon stimulated the desire of our friends 
to see the collections of the Louvre and the Luxembourg, and learn as 
much as they could, during their stay in Paris, of the art of which it is 
the centre. Mrs. Bassett learned that there was a considerable number 
of Americans studying art in Paris, the majority of them going rarely 
into the regions frequented by their countrymen, but associating almost 
entirely with French people when they associated with anybody. Frank 
said they had probably concluded that they could find Americans enough 
in the United States, and when visiting or living in foreign countries 
they preferred to embrace the opportunity to study the people of those 
countries and their ways of life. 

He added that the majority of the foreign art students in Paris were 
of limited means, and must practise rigid economy in their way of liv- 
ing in order to be able to live there at all. Some of the Americans had 
become more or less famous, and their pictures were admitted to the 
Salon, while others had been struggling for years without attaining that 
distinction, and with little prospect of it. 

Mrs. Bassett asked why American students of art did not stay in 
their own country. She supposed there was a good reason for their 
coming abroad, and wanted to know what it was. 

" There are many reasons in favor of their coming away from home," 
said Frank, in reply to her question. " They can live here more cheaply, 
other things being equal, than in an American city ; they are surrounded 
by the art of several centuries; have free access to all the galleries where 
the finest pictures and sculptures can be seen ; can visit, under certain 
restrictions, the studios of famous artists, and become pupils of those 
artists on payment of the required fees ; and have free use of the art 
schools which are supported by the Government." 

The last remark caused Mrs. Bassett to ask in what way the Gov- 
ernment supported schools where people could go to study art. Frank 
explained that there is a Minister of Fine Arts, just as much as there is 
a Minister of War or of Marine. He superintends the whole business 
of art so far as the Government is concerned in it ; he appoints the in- 



THE MINISTER OF FINE ARTS. 



153 



stnictors in the Academy of Fine Arts, fixes their salaries, regulates the 
Salon and other exhibitions, decides upon the purchase of pictures on 
Goyernment account, decides upon the placing of statuary in the public 




"RETURN" OF THE FLOCK." — [Jacques.] 



squares of Paris and other cities, and attends to a good many other 
things of the same sort. Frank said the importance of the Department 
of Fine Arts was shown in the fact that the annual appropriation for it 
exceeds 10,000,000 francs, or $2,000,000. 

•• Xo one can visit the art collections of Paris." said Frank. " without 
being impressed with the great number of paintings in which the glory 
of France in war is made prominent. The French artists follow the 
example of their brethren of other nations, in leaving out of considera- 
tion the battles in which their own armies were not victorious. The 
visitor may look in vain for a representation on canvas of the battle of 
"Waterloo, just as he may search without satisfactory result in Berlin for 
the battle of Jena, or in Vienna for that of Austerlitz. But the battles 
in which the standards of France have floated triumphantly have been 
preserved by the artists of the nation, and one must ascribe to them the 
merit of being the greatest battle-painters of the world. 

k> In battle - painting the system of the French artists has changed 



156 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

greatly since the beginning of the century ; it is less the custom than 
of yore to paint pictures so large that no ordinary gallery can contain 
them. The famous artists like Meissonier, De ISTeuville, Detaille, and 
others of the same school of art, usually confine themselves to the repre- 
sentations of scenes and incidents, rather than to an entire field of bat- 
tle, and Meissonier was especially fond of making single figures or small 
groups of soldiers. His paintings are celebrated for their almost micro- 
scopic fineness, and they seem at times to have been done with the point 
of an engraving-tool rather than with a brush dipped in pigment. The 
other artists who have been mentioned fall but little behind him in the 
exactness of their work, and their reputation is of the highest class. 

" A gentleman who visited Meissonier's studio told me that the great 
artist devoted much time and study to laying out his picture before 
touching his brush upon the canvas. If he was about to paint a single 
figure, he procured every part of the dress down to the smallest detail, 
and he was known to spend hours in obtaining and arranging the 
proper shoestrings for his model. Take the painting representing a 
vedette, for example. The artist obtained the uniform and equipment 
from the proper authorities : rifle, sabre, coat, blanket, canteen, saddle- 
bag, all were collected and placed upon the lay-figure, which was built 
up to a proper fit for the garments. Then the lay-figure or model of 
the horse was brought into use, but not till the proper saddle and bridle 
had been obtained. The man was mounted on the horse, and then the 
positions for the hands of the man, and the heads, feet, and bodies of 
horse and rider, were carefully studied hour after hour and day after 
day. Not till everything was satisfactory did the artist begin his work ; 
when it was completed it was a perfect reproduction of the model 
standing in his studio, with the ground and grasses and everything 
else drawn in their proper places. 

" I asked my friend what the artist did in painting a group or a 
scene where there were figures behind one another. Here is his reply : 

" ' He took the required number of models, and grouped them till they 
were in the positions he desired. The figures that he used for backgrounds 
were smaller than those for the front, and he had them graded in size so 
that he could form an actual group, whether there were few or many 
persons represented, by means of these little figures. I was one day in 
his studio, where he was busy with the composition of a picture repre- 
senting a regiment on the march. By means of these little figures he 
constructed the picture exactly as he wanted to reproduce them. In 
this way he arranged all the details of the perspective, so that he would 



STUDIO HELPS. 



15? 



not be likely to make any mistake in placing the scene upon canvas, and 
his next care was to try the effect of the light when thrown in from 
the different quarters of the sky. By means of screens, which were 
moved here and there at his directions, he obtained in time the desired 
light, and not till then was his preparation complete.' " 

One day, in the gallery of the Louvre, Frank met an old school-mate, 
Harry Davis, whom he had not seen for a year or more. They were 
glad to meet, and the presence of young Davis in Paris was explained 




; the vedette." — [Meissonier.] 



158 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




ROSA BONHEUR. 



by the fact that he had turned his attention to art, and was located 
there for the purpose of studying it. " I'm not living in Paris," said he, 
" but at Ecouen, which is half an hour's ride from Paris on the Northern 

Eailway of France." 

"Why do you live there in- 
stead of in the capital?" Frank 
asked. 

" The fact is," replied Davis, 
"living is cheaper there than in 
the city. I am living at the 
hotel, where I pay only twenty 
francs a month for my room, and 
a very fair one it is, too ; and a 
good dinner costs only two francs. 
You can hire a good house in 
Ecouen for a hundred dollars a 
year — a house large enough for 
four to live in comfortably — and 
a servant to care for it and cook 
your meals will cost a great deal 
less than a similar servant would cost in the city. Four or five club- 
bing together can live for what they would starve on in JS"ew York or 
any other American city ; but of course they can't have more than the 
necessities of life, with none of the luxuries." 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary listened with interest to the young man's 
account of life at Ecouen. Before they separated the former asked if 
the hotel would accommodate their entire party in case they should wish 
to visit the town which he had described as a haunt and home of artists. 
" Perhaps it would be injudicious for you to drop in there without 
warning," said Mr. Davis, " as the hotel is not by any means the largest 
in the world, and they are unaccustomed to a sudden influx of strangers. 
But if you will name a day when you will be there I will arrange that 
you can see the place and be properly cared for." 

Mrs. Bassett thanked him for his courteous offer, and it was arranged 
that they would visit Ecouen two days later, provided the weather 
should be favorable. In case of rain they would come on the first suc- 
ceeding fair day, and would notify him by telegraph when they were 
about to start. 

They went there accordingly. For an account of the visit we will 
rely upon Mary, who was the historian of the occasion. 



A GLIMPSE OF ECOUEN. 



159 



" We expected that the railway train would take us directly to the 
village, but when we alighted at the station it proved to be fully a mile 
from where we wanted to go. But we had a delightful drive from the 
station to the village, and were not at all sorry for the distance ; in fact, 
we would not have objected had it been three or four miles instead of 
one. On both sides of the road there are luxuriant fields and picturesque 
houses, some of them very old, for Ecouen is not by any means a modern 
settlement. There is an old chateau here, and it occupies the site of one 
that was built in the fifth century. In fact, some of the old walls are 
in existence, and were useful for the architects when they reconstructed 
the castle more than three hundred years ago. 

" We found the town a very quaint looking one, with narrow streets, 
where it is not easy to go with vehicles because the streets were laid out 
before wheeled carriages were in use. There is an old church in Ecouen 
which Frank says has been somewhat spoiled by the restorations of the 




"ploughing in nivernais."— [Kosa Bouheur.] 



past few years, but there is enough of its old character remaining to 
make it very charming. Close by it there is an old chestnut-tree. The 
tradition is that it is nearly four hundred years old, which seems to me 
a very great age for a tree ; but Fred says he has heard of 'chestnuts' 
very much older. Wonder what he means when he lays such an em- 
phasis upon ' chestnuts V 

" The chateau stands on a hill that commands a fine view of Ecouen 
and the country around it. I expected to find it in ruins, like a good 
many other castles in France, but found, somewhat to my surprise, that 



160 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IK CENTRAL EUROPE. 



it is occupied, though not by a princely family, 
times. It is a convent school for the daughters of 
of Honor, where they are educated to fit them to 



as it was in the olden 
members of the Legion 
be governesses in fam- 
ilies or companions of 
noble ladies who can 
afford to pay for their 
services. The Legion 
of Honor owns a great 
deal of property and 
has a large income, so 
that it pays pensions 
to such of its members 
as need them, and sup- 
ports this school, and 
also another at St. 
Denis, nearer Paris. 

" It didn't take long 
for us to find out why 
Ecouen is so attractive 
to art students, in ad- 
dition to the cheapness 
of living here. Every- 
where you turn there 
is something that can 
be converted into a 
pretty picture : the 
houses, trees, fences, 
all are picturesque ; 
and as for the people, 
they are the very per- 
fection of what an 
artist ought to de- 
light to paint. The 
reputation of the place was made by Edouard Frere, whose name is 
familiar to the art-loving world. He is an old man now, and has spent 
nearly all his life in this little town. He was born in 1819, and soon 
after beginning to paint he came to Ecouen and established himself. He 
was very poor then, and had his reputation to make ; and the story is 
that he suffered the pinchings of poverty for a good while before the 
merit of his work was discovered and his pictures found a sale. 




CHATEAU OF ECOUEN. 



GOSSIP ABOUT EDOUARD FRERE. 



161 



" Our friend, Mr. Davis, says Frere was always very kind to young 
artists, and that is one reason of the great popularity of Ecouen with 
the beginners in art. In Paris the artists do not cultivate each other's 
acquaintance very much, partly because they are in such a large city, 
and partly owing to their numerous jealousies and struggles for promi- 
nence. Here the example of the oldest and best known of them has its 
effect on the others, and all are on terms of intimate friendship, or, at 
all events, of friendliness. They visit each other at their studios, and on 
Sundays it is the custom for all of them to call on the Frere family, 
where they are hospitably received and entertained. During the week 
the artists with families have each an evening for the reception of 
friends, who drop in without ceremony, stay and chat a little while, and 




CHIALIVA'S ST0DIO, ECOUEN. 



11 



162 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

then, perhaps, hasten off to another reception. We have been at two of 
these receptions, and found them very pleasant. 

" Several of the artists of Ecouen are well known among picture 
buyers, and their works bring prices that enable the painters to live in 
good style. Mr. Davis took us to several studios, including that of Mr. 
Todd, an American ; Mr. Schenck, famous as a painter of animals ; and 
Mr. Chialiva, an Italian who has lived in America and has an American 
wife. Mr. Chialiva' s studio is such a curious one that I must stop right 
here to describe it as well as I can : 

" All of this gentleman's pictures contain horses, sheep, geese, cattle, 
pigeons, or other domestic animals, and he has his studio arranged so 
that he can have his models before him. It is like a great conservatory, 
but it hasn't any flowers and the other things peculiar to a conservatory. 
At one end there is a space separated by glass from the rest, and in the 
part beyond the glass he has his animals that he is painting into his 
pictures. Sheep, cattle, horses feel perfectly at home there, as they are 
always kindly treated. The wife of his peasant farmer acts as his assist- 
ant when he wants any of the animals or birds kept in position for him, 
and they are so accustomed to her that they do almost anything she 
wishes. She holds the geese, turkeys, and pigeons for him, and they 
recognize that she will not hurt them ; they run to her when she calls, 
and some of them almost act as though they knew they were being used 
as models for the artist and it is necessary for them to keep very quiet. 

" Sometimes he wants to paint geese or ducks in a pond or lake. 
The place where his models are to stand or swim is then flooded with 
water, and in this way he gets the reflections on the water just as he 
wants them in his picture. 

"All the peasants around Ecouen are accustomed to the artists, and 
many of them have stood as models at one time or another. A child as 
a model costs only a franc a day, and a man or woman two, or perhaps 
three francs. As the cost of models in New York is fifty cents an hour, 
you can readily see how much cheaper it is for one to paint here than 
on Manhattan Island. The peasants are very glad to act as models in- 
stead of working in the fields, as their days are much shorter, and it is 
far easier to stand or sit in the positions required by the artists than to 
toil in the heat of the sun or in pouring rain. 

" The town is surrounded by fields and gardens, as you already 
know, and we have been interested in studying the way the people work 
and live. The peasants go to their work at four or five o'clock in the 
morning ; they have a rest of an hour at mid-day, and then they return 



EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 



163 



to their work until eight or even nine o'clock. There is no labor union 

here to make a limit of eight or even ten hours to a day's labor. If one 

of these peasants should refuse to work the required time in the fields 

it is probable that his 

employer would not 

require his services. 

Think of it : working 

twelve hours for sixty 

cents, or five cents an 

hour! No wonder the 

laborers never appear 

to be in a hurry ; they 

can't afford to at that 

price. 

"Accidentally, I 
learned something 
about educational mat- 
ters in France while 
talking with a woman 
about working in the 
fields. She was com- 
plaining because the 
law required the chil- 
dren to go to school, 
and on account of this 
law she was deprived 
of the aid of her chil- 
dren in supporting the 
family. Formerly chil- 
dren worked at some- 
thing suited to their 
age, or acted as models 
for artists ; but at pres. 
ent they must be sent 
to school, unless too ill 

to attend. If a child is kept from school to earn money in any way, 
its parents are liable to a fine of ten francs for each offence. The 
woman said that they did not have any such arbitrary laws when she 
was a child, and she didn't see why there should have been any change. 

"I asked Frank about education in France^ and he says that since 




STREET IN ECOUEN. 



164 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



March, 1882, primary, education has been compulsory, every child be- 
tween six and thirteen years of age being required to attend school. 
This education is free, and is paid for by taxation, just as in the free- 
school system of the United States. To show the change that has come 
over France in this matter since the time of the second empire, Frank 
says that in 1857 the amount of public funds of all kinds devoted to 
primary instruction was 16,000,000 francs ; in 1878 it was 59,000,000 ; 
and in 1888 it reached 150,000,000. About 6,000,000 children are 
taught in the primary and infant schools, 78,000 in higher schools, 
10,000 are taught at home, and about 10,000 are in the highest schools 
and universities. There are now very few untaught children in France, 
and the probabilities are that before another fwe years have rolled away 
education will be as general as it is in the United States. 

" One of the laws about education says that after a certain date all 
the schools shall be in charge of laymen — that is, they shall not be 
managed as heretofore by the priests or clergymen of religious denom- 
inations. And this reminds me that Frank says all religions are on 
the same footing, no matter what they are ; and any religion that has 
more than 10,000 adherents is entitled to a grant of money from the 
Government. The Eoman Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Moslems 




GLEANERS IN THE FIELDS. 



PEASANT LIFE IN THE COUNTRY. 165 

are the only religious bodies that receive State grants. The Catholics are 
the most numerous, being 78 per cent, of the population, and therefore 
they receive the largest allowances from the Government ; the Protes- 
tants are only about 2 per cent., and there are but 53,000 Jews in France, 
according to the statistics. At the last census there were more than 
7,000,000 inhabitants who declined to make any statement as to their 
religious belief. This was the first census where non jprofessants were 
registered, all of them having formerly been put down as Catholics. The 
Moslems are all in Algeria, and there are about 3,000,000 of them alto- 
gether. The Moslem children are not required to go to school like 
those of France ; but Moslem worship has its allowance from the Govern- 
ment, just like other forms of religion. 

" In our excursions into the country we have seen the people at work 
in the fields in all the various employments of agriculture at this season 
of the year. In some fields the ploughs were at work ; in others the grain 
was being harvested, men and women working side by side with their 
sickles, or binding the sheaves of the grain after it had been sufficiently 
dried in the sun. In another field the gleaners were busy gathering the 
scattered grain that in America is generally allowed to go to waste. 
Frank says the reason of this is that the price of labor in America is so 
high that gleaners cannot make the same wages that they would re- 
ceive for ordinary work, and therefore gleaning is unprofitable. 

"Along the road we encounter groups of peasants going to their 
work or returning from it. Most of these groups were silent, and 
seemed intent only on reaching their destination, whatever it might be, 
and their subjects of conversation were evidently very limited ; but oc- 
casionally their tongues were wagging rapidly. We saw three bare- 
footed women Avalking together and chatting at a great rate ; and so 
intent were they on their conversation that they paused every few min- 
utes and stood still in the road. Frank said the earnestness of their 
talk and the force required for propelling their tongues had evidently 
paralyzed their walking powers and brought them to a halt. 

" If we had not known already that there were a good many artists 
in Ecouen, we should have found it out when we went into the country 
outside the town. We met them very often with their sketching ma- 
terials, carried by small boys and sometimes by full-grown men. We 
saw them in the fields among the peasants, seated under trees, where 
they had nice bits of landscape before them, or watching domestic ani- 
mals grazing or resting in picturesque positions, and entirely uncon- 
scious that they were being used as models. Mr. Davis says the artists 



166 



THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



go out in all kinds of weather to make their sketches, and if it is cold 
and windy they wrap themselves in sheepskins and rugs to keep 
warm. Mr. Frere has a small cart, which is something like a Japanese 




GOSSIP ON THE ROAD. 



jinrikisha, and drawn by one man ; it has a high back and top, and the 
artist can sit there and sketch in wind or rain or snow, and be quite com- 
fortable, provided, of course, he has his back turned to the storm. 

" "Well, we've spent three days here, and very comfortable and inter- 
esting days they have been. Frank has just asked for the hotel bill, 
and says he is suspicious that they will make it out at Paris rates, as he 
did not take the precaution to bargain closely. . . . Here it comes, and an 
inspection of it shows that Frank was not altogether wrong in his ex- 
pectations ; though, after all, the prices are such that we have no reason 
for complaining. Mr. Davis says the place is being spoiled by the visits 
of strangers, and in a few years it will probably lose much of its dis- 
tinctive character. Already some of the peasants are adopting the dress 
of Paris, and giving up the costumes that characterize them. Many of 
them have abandoned the wooden shoes, which were so long the pecul- 
iar property of the peasant in all parts of Europe, and wear shoes or 
boots of leather instead. In other ways the people are becoming mod- 
ernized, and we are glad to have seen the place before the old-fashioned 
habits have disappeared." 



THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 



167 



CHAPTEK X. 

ONE OF THE "IMMORTALS;" MRS. BASSETT'S DOUBTS CONCERNING HIM. —THE 
FRENCH ACADEMY, AND THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE ; ATTENDING A MEETING 
OF THE ACADEMY.— DESCRIPTION OF THE "IMMORTALS." — THE ILLUSTRIOUS 
FORTY; ADVANTAGES OF MEMBERSHIP AND DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING IT; 
HOW ELECTIONS ARE CONDUCTED.— THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.— THE FAMOUS 
DICTIONARY; TWELVE HUNDRED YEARS FOR ITS COMPLETION.— A GATHERING 
OF DISTINGUISHED FRENCHMEN.— PROCEEDINGS AT A MEETING— PLACE AND 
ARCH OF THE CARROUSEL.— THE PORTE SAINT -DENIS AND PORTE SAINT- 
MARTIN.— A DISSERTATION ON TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. — VISIT TO THE ARC DE 
TRIOMPHE DE L'ETOILE.— REMINISCENCES OF THE SIEGE OF mi. 

ONE day as our friends were seated in front of the Cafe de la Paix 
they were joined by a gentleman who had resided for several 
years in Paris, and knew the faces of many prominent personages. 
While they were talking he suddenly called attention to a venerable 
individual who was passing along the boulevard, engaged in earnest 
conversation with a man much younger than himself. 




VOTING AT THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 



168 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

Mrs. Bassett remarked that the man whom he designated was cer- 
tainly very old, though he walked with an easy step. 

"Yes, he looks very old," said the gentleman, "and probably has 
more than eighty years to his credit." Then after a pause he added, 
" That is one of the ' Immortals.' " 

There was an inquiring or doubting look in Mrs. Bassett's eyes, 
which indicated her reluctance to believe that the venerable stranger 
was endowed with more than human attributes. Seeing her perplexity, 
the gentleman hastened to relieve it. 

" The members of the French Academy are called ' Immortals,' and 
the man who just passed is one of them," he explained. " There are 
forty of them altogether, and the forty men thus distinguished are, in a 
certain way, the most envied men in France." 

" Why is that ?" 

" Because," was the reply, " the requirements of membership in the 
Academy are very severe, and every member must be prominent in the 
world of literature in one way or another. jSTo one can be elected to 
the Academy unless he has achieved distinction, and there can be no 
more than forty members. It is a select club of forty Frenchmen, whom 
all the other men of France are supposed to regard with the greatest 
respect and envy at all times." 

Mrs. Bassett thought it was very selfish on the part of the forty 
" Immortals " to be so exclusive, and refuse to admit any one else to 
their circle. The rest of the party agreed with her ; but her informant 
said there were sessions of the Academy four times a year, when the 
outside world could be present at their deliberations. If she would 
like to go there he thought he had sufficient influence to obtain tickets 
for the party, and there was to be a public session in a very few days. • 

It was decided that a meeting of the Academy was one of the at- 
tractions of Paris, and an opportunity like the one presented was not 
to be refused. The gentleman said he would let them know in a day 
or so whether he would be able to procure the tickets. They were to be 
had only through the favor of the members themselves, and as he knew 
several of them he thought he would be able to arrange the matter. 

Then he explained that the general public who sought admission to 
the sessions were obliged to go several hours in advance, and wait pa- 
tiently until the doors were opened. Their tickets had no numbers, 
and each ticket-holder made a rush for the best seat he could find as 
soon as the doors swung apart to admit the crowd. But the tickets 
which he hoped to obtain were for the reserved space in the centre of 



AMONG THE "IMMORTALS." 



169 



I 



the room where the session was 
held, and not for the gallery to 
which only the ordinary public is 
admitted to see the show. 

" When I first came to Paris," 
said he, "I wanted to attend a 
session of the Academy and see 
the great men assembled there. I 
did not know anybody of influ- 
ence, and so took my chances 
with the crowd, standing in line 
for nearly four hours, and, finally, 
almost breaking my neck in the 
rush for places. 
But I obtained 

what I want- U : . 

- 

ed, and had a 
sight of the 
'Immortals' 
dressed in the 
finery which 
they are ex- 
pected to wear 
at their public 
sessions. Their 
uniforms for 
these sessions 
are richly em- 
broidered with 
gold and trim- 
med with lace ; 
some of the 
members rath- 
er irreverently 
speak of 'put- 
ting on parsley' when they don their gorgeous garments. These uni- 
forms have been in fashion from a time beyond the memory of most 
living men, as they were decreed by Napoleon I. Many of the mem- 
bers would gladly give up wearing them, but they adhere to the custom 
just because it is a custom." 



r 







HATS OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 



170 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



In reply to a question as to when the Academy was established, 
Frank explained that it dated from the year 1635, when it was founded 
by Cardinal Richelieu, and he sagely added that none of the original 
members belonged to it at present. He further explained that the 
French Academy was one of the five academies that compose the In- 
stitute of France, and they all have their home in a large building on 
the south bank of the Seine fronting the Louvre. 

"I suppose that these academies are supported by the Government, 
like the schools of art that you told us about ?" 

" Yes, they have the sanction of the Government for their existence, 
and they have quite a revenue from property that has been given to 
them by the Government or individuals from time to time. Each mem- 
ber has an allowance or salary of 1500 francs yearly, and each secre- 
tary has 6000 francs for his services every twelve months. Then each 
member gets twenty francs for every meeting that he attends. The 
ordinary meetings are held once a week, and no outsiders are admitted 
to them under any pretence whatever." 

" What do they do at those meetings ?" Mary asked. 
" The French Academy, which is the best known of the five acade- 
mies composing the Institute, is supposed to occupy itself with a dic- 
tionary of the French language. The members have been working for 
forty years or more upon the dictionary, but it has not yet appeared." 
" It must be a very large dictionary to take so long a time to make 

it," said Mrs. Bassett, 
"and it ought to be 
a very important one 
whenever it is pub- 
lished." 

"Yes, it will be 
very valuable when it 
appears," said Frank, 
with a laugh. " One 
of the members is au- 
thority for the state- 
ment that its prepara- 
tion will take not less 
than twelve hundred 
years. In point of fact, 
the general belief is 
that the dictionary is 




DR. CHARCOT. 



THE MYTHICAL DICTIONARY. 



m 



a myth, and the pretence of working upon it is kept up in order to com- 
ply with the decree of the Convention by which the Academy was re- 
organized in 1803, after its temporary suppression during the Revolu- 
tion. That decree announced that the Academy was especially charged 
with making a dictionary of the French tongue, and that it should ex- 




A LECTURE AT THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



amine important works of history, literature, and science, and publish 
the results of its critical observations at least four times a year. In 
point of fact, no dictionary is being written, and the Academy does not 
publish critical observations of any kind. 

" The private and weekly sessions are probably devoted to gossip and 
cigars," said the gentleman who had started the conversation about the 
Academy, " while the public sessions are the occasions for introducing 
new members and awarding certain prizes which are in the gift of the 
Academy. If there is a new member introduced he reads a fulsome 
eulogy on his predecessor, and is then made the subject of a speech of 
reception, in which a great many impolite things are said in a very 
polite way. The victim must hear it all with a smile, though it must 
sometimes try his temper a good deal. 

"And this reminds me," he continued, "that every applicant for 



172 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

membership is obliged to go around and ask all the members for the 
favor of his vote." 

"Do you mean that he goes around among them at the meeting 
where his name is to be considered, or does he call on them separately ?" 

" He calls upon each one at his home or place of business. The rea- 
son for the adoption of this rule is that on one occasion a newly-elected 
member declined the honor conferred upon him, and since then it has 
been necessary for every candidate to place himself on record as willing 
to accept in case of election." 

" It must be somewhat humiliating to a man to go around and ask 
for votes," Mary remarked ; and she added the suggestion that probably 
this condition prevented many men of distinction from applying for a 
place in the Academy. 

" It is certainly humiliating in a certain sense, but you will see that 
it is not altogether so when it is known to be the universal custom. 
Men of prominence in all lines of life are pretty sure to have quarrels 
and enmities, and a candidate who has quarrelled with a member of the 
' Immortals ' must either sink his pride and make up his quarrel or stay 
on the outside. Several noted men have declined to apply for member- 
ship because they could not bring themselves to solicit favors of a bitter 
enemy. On the other hand, the rule has been the means of restoring 
friendship between men who have been enemies for years and said all 
manner of rude things about each other." 

" Is the rule the same in all the other of the academies composing 
the Institute of France ?" 

" As to that I am unable to say positively, but believe it is the rule 
in some, though not in all. The most famous of the academies, next to 
the one we have been considering, is that of Sciences. It contains sixty- 
six ordinary members, ten honorary ones, and one hundred foreign asso- 
ciates and correspondents. It meets for its regular session every Monday 
afternoon, and the members read papers concerning recent discoveries in 
science and discuss various scientific questions. The most eminent men 
of science in France are members of this Academy, and there is generally 
a good attendance. Yice-admiral Paris, the keeper of the Marine Museum 
in the Louvre, is one of the first to arrive, and for years he was closely 
followed, or quite as often preceded, by M. Chevreul, the famous chemist, 
who made it a point to be present at every session. Dr. Brown-Sequard, 
Ferdinand de Lesseps, Faye the astronomer, Dr. Charcot, and several 
other gentlemen prominent in the scientific world, are, or were, among 
the active members of the Academy of Sciences and prominent in the 



ACADEMIES OF THE INSTITUTE. 



173 



discussions. The meetings are not especially orderly, as very few give 
attention to the ordinary business ; but when new theories or discoveries 
in science are presented, a hush conies over the room, and everybody is 
intent on hearing the illustrious gentleman who is speaking, or more 
likely reading, for the enlightenment of his associates. 

" The other academies that go to make up the Institute are those of 
Beaux- Arts, Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and Sciences Morales et Poli- 




ARRIVAL OF VICE-ADMIRAL PARIS. 



tique. The most important of the three is probably that of the Fine 
Arts, as it is composed of painters, sculptors, architects, and musical 
composers, and has the control of important prizes relating to the various 
arts which they represent. There is no restriction upon the membership 
of these five academies, and a man may belong to any or all of them if 
he possesses the needed requirements and the influence to secure an 
election. Membership in any one of the academies entitles one to be 
called Membre de VInstitut, and you already know that this is the highest 
distinction which can be given to any Frenchman of literary, musical, 
artistic, or scientific claims." 

Here the conversation on the subject of the Institute came to an end 
as the gentleman rose to take his leave. 

Mrs. Bassett and her daughter waited with some anxiety for his re- 
port relative to the tickets, and one morning they were delighted with 
the information that the desired billets had been secured, and admission 
to the exalted assemblage was awaiting them at the appointed hour. 



174 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



They dressed early and elaborately, as they had been told that the 
affair was very ceremonious, and they felt that the dignity of the Ameri- 
can republic was upon their shoulders. A little before one o'clock their 
carriage was driven into the court-yard of the Institute, and they found 
themselves preceded and followed by other carriages containing persons 
of more or less prominence (generally more) in the fashionable or culti- 
vated world of Paris. There were Academicians of much renown, and 
some of very little except what their membership gives ; there were the 
wives, sisters, and daughters of Academicians, and the wives, sisters, and 
daughters of men who hope to be admitted to the Academy when the 
proper vacancies occur and they can secure a sufficient number of votes \ 
there were the ladies who give receptions to the Academicians on stated 
occasions for the sake of the glory they thereby obtain, or for other rea- 
sons best known to themselves, most of them being ladies with titles or 
the members of families long and well known in French society. For 
a description of the scene let us copy a paragraph from an article con- 
cerning the Institute of France, by a well-known American writer long 

a resident of Paris and familiar 
with its many peculiarities.* 

" Here and there are novel- 
ists, poets, dramatists, who are 
paying court to the Academy, 
and hoping to get elected one of 
these days. Here is B., who has 
just had a feeble novel jobbed 
into the Revue des Deux Mondes. 
B. has married a rich and pretty 
wife, with a view to opening an 
Academic salon and so achieving 
immortality. His pretty wife is 
beside him, in a delicious toilet 
specially created for the occasion 
by that great artist, Epinglard. 
She is particularly gracious to 
Z., who has written a few witty 
pieces, and who, being rich and an epicure, is ' running for ' the Academy 
on the strength of his good dinners. Z. is a rival who must be con- 
ciliated. Next to Z. are some pretty American girls, whose piquant 




DISTINGUISHED MEMBER. 



* Theodore Child, in Harper's Magazine for March, 1889. 



VISITING THE ACADEMY. 175 

beauty and vivacious talk have won them the protection of the belle 
Madame P., who also receives Academicians at dinner, and talks liter- 
ature with an awkwardness as charming as the natural gaucherie with 
which women play at billiards. Madame P. is conspicuous with her 
royal blue velvet robe, but she is not dressed with such good taste as 
her neighbor, Mile. R., of the Comedie Francaise, who happens to be 
sitting near two equally obese and famous men — Blowitz, the corre- 
spondent of the Times, and Sarcey, the dramatic critic. Sarcey has been 
present at every Academic reception during the past twenty years, and 
in the evening he always delivers a public lecture on the event, and 
rereads fragments of the reception speeches as he thinks they ought to 
be read." 

The day was fine when our friends went to the reception at the 
Academy, and as the various members arrived they scattered in little 
groups, and were evidently in no hurry to enter the hall where the 
ceremony was to take place. There was a double file of soldiers in the 
vestibule, to do honor to the great dignitaries when they entered in 
procession. The soldiers were jostled somewhat by the crowd of visit- 
ors as the latter found their way to the entrance of the hall, and were 
shown to the narrow and inconvenient benches provided for seats. 
Mary whispered that the seats were the same that they had in the hall 
at the formation of the Academy, 250 years ago, and Fred said he 
thought they must date back even further than that. Mrs. Bassett 
suggested that the "chairs" which the members of the Academy are 
supposed to occupy were not to be seen, and she wondered if each man 
was to bring his camp-stool under his arm when he arrived. 

Though the space reserved for spectators was well filled, and every 
moment becoming more so, while the gallery was literally packed with 
a well-dressed and warm assemblage, the seats allotted to the members 
were mostly empty, for the reason that the Academicians were waiting 
for the formation of the procession in the court-yard or in the vestibule. 
It was a few minutes past one when a hush ran through the audience, 
the door of the hall opened, and the procession entered, the dignitaries 
coming first in their uniforms, and the rest in civilian garb. 

We will again call upon Mr. Child to tell us some of the names of 
the famous personages present : 

" There is Dumas, looking handsome and haughty ; there is Sardou, 
posing for a Holbein ; Penan, whose features call to mind those of the 
regretted Hyacinthe of the Palais Royal ; Taine, whose obliquity of 
vision has helped him to take queer views of Napoleon and other his- 



176 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



torical characters ; G-aston Boissier, the mellifluous cicerone of ancient 
Eome ; John Lemoine, Jules Claretie, and Edouard Herve, who repre- 
sent journalism; Leconte de Lisle, Coppee, and Sully Prudhomme, a 
trinity of poets ; Augier, whom the indulgent call the modern Moliere ; 

Pailleron and Halevy, who per- 
sonify the lighter stage ; Jules 
Simon, Octave Feuillet, Camille 
Doucet, and Legouve, who consid- 
er the Academy to be the centre 
of the universe, and nothing less 
than paradise ; Rousse, Duruy, 
Cherbuliez, Mgr. Perraud, De Les- 
seps,D'Haussonville, Mezieres, and 
the other Academicians whose 
names the public can never re- 
member." 

The meeting lasted about two 
hours, the time being principally 
devoted to the reception of new 
members in the manner already 
described. After the ceremonies 
were over the audience scattered ; 
at least those who were there out 
of mere curiosity went away, 
while the experienced ones re- 
mained and indulged in general 
conversation. As our friends 
were unacquainted with any of the great people whom they had been 
allowed to contemplate at a respectful distance, they called their car- 
riage and were speedily rolled away from the Institute. As they left 
it behind them they turned their thoughts to other subjects. 

Frank instructed the driver to cross the Seine by the nearest bridge 
and take them to the Place du Carrousel. They had not far to go, as 
the Institute and the Palace of the Tuileries are quite near each other, 
and' the Place du Carrousel is the broad area enclosed in the lines of 
the latter edifice and the Louvre. It derives its name from an out-door 
festival that was given there in 1662 by Louis XIV. The festival is 
held there no more, and is probably unknown to the majority of Pari- 
sians ; but the large square is constantly open to the public, and forms 
an important thoroughfare from one side of the river to the other. 




M. FAYE, ASTRONOMER. 



PLACE DU CARROUSEL. 177 

Our friends had seen the square on their first visit to the Louvre and 
they had crossed it several times, but on each occasion did not stop to 
examine it. Mary had expressed a desire to study the spot when they 
were not pressed for time, and Frank suggested that they had just then 
a little leisure and would embrace the opportunity. 

The triumphal arch at one side of the Place was the first object that 
attracted the attention of Mrs. Bassett and her daughter, and they at 
once asked about it, and when it was built. 

" How very small it looks," Mrs. Bassett remarked. 

"Yes," replied Frank, "but it was large enough when it was erected." 

" How do you explain that ?" 

"Why, it was erected by order of Napoleon L, to commemorate his 
victories of 1805 and 1806. When it was placed here the buildings in 
the neighborhood were small, and the arch was of a goodly size in com- 
parison. All those small buildings were subsequently removed, and 
now the only structures to make comparison with the arch are the 
larger ones of later construction." 

The marble reliefs on the front of the arch were carefully inspected. 
Frank explained that they represented the famous battles of the cam- 
paign referred to, and other incidents connected with those years. Then 
he called attention to the horses on the top of the arch, and said that 
originally Napoleon had the arch crowned with the famous bronze 
horses of Yenice, which he brought home as a trophy of his victory. 
The horses were restored to Yenice in 1814, and afterwards their places 
were occupied by a more modern quadriga, designed by a French sculpt- 
or of the time of Louis XYIII. 

Mrs. Bassett called attention to the chains that prevented a free 
passage of vehicles or pedestrians through the great archway ; she won- 
dered why it was that after building what looked like a gateway the 
builders prohibited the public from using it. 

" You are by no means the first who has asked that question, and 
it has been discussed with a good deal of earnestness at various times 
in the history of France. Most of the great arches are built in the 
same way, and it has been explained that the triumphal arch is only 
intended for the passage of the great personage in whose honor it has 
been made, together with the soldiers who accompany him when he 
returns from his victorious campaign. After that it must be kept sacred 
from the profanation of ordinary feet, and so it is enclosed against the 
general public." 

" You pointed out another arch yesterday," said Mrs. Bassett, turn- 

12 



178 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



ing to Frank ; " I believe you said it was the Porte Saint-Denis, and it 
seems to me to have been larger than this one." 

"Yes, it is," was the reply. "This arch is only forty -eight feet 
high, while the Porte Saint -Denis is eighty -one feet from bottom to 
top, and the widths and depths of the two arches are in the same pro- 
portion. I haven't the exact figures." 

" Which is the older of the two ?" 

" The Porte Saint-Denis is much the older. It was built in 1672 in 
honor of the victories of Louis XIV. in Holland, and in the lower part 
of the valley of the Khine, as the inscriptions upon the pillars will tell 
you. We passed another triumphal arch, the Porte Saint-Martin, not 
very far from the Porte Saint-Denis, as you doubtless remember. That 
arch was built two years later than the Porte Saint-Denis, and with the 
same general object : the commemoration of the victories of Louis XIV. 
Those gates were intended as entrances of the city at the time of their 




ARC DU CARROUSEL. 



THE BOULEVARDS OF PARIS. 179 

erection, and they were at the line of fortifications. The boulevards 
were at that time the fortifications of the city, and were erected by 
Louis XIV. on the line of the old bulwarks or defences. "With the ex- 
tension of the city beyond its walls and the increased range of modern 
artillery, these fortifications became of no use, and they were levelled 
to give place to the magnificent avenues that we now find here. 

" These avenues are generally called ' the grand boulevards ' to dis- 
tinguish them from the boulevards exte? i ieur, or outer boulevards, which 
follow the old octroi wall of Louis XI V., and are about fifteen miles 
long. Then there is another line still farther outside and following 
the present fine of fortifications ; these are known as the boulevards 
$ enceinte and consist of a military road or avenue twenty -one miles 
long just inside the defences. This road would be very convenient for 
the movements of troops or stores in case of a siege of Paris, and it is 
aided by the Chemin de f er de Ceinture, or Belt .Railway, which runs 
completely around the city within the fortifications." 

" That railway must be very convenient in time of peace as well as 
in war, as it connects with each other all the railways that come into 
Paris," Mary remarked, after a moment's reflection. 

" Yes," replied Frank, " but there is another system beyond it both 
for defence and commerce. There is a line of forts — in fact two lines 
— surrounding Paris at varying distances, and entirely detached from 
each other, so that one fort may be held after its neighbor on each side 
is in the hands of the enemy. The Chemin de fer de Grand Ceinture, 
or Outer Belt Railway, unites these forts and also all the railways run- 
ning into Paris. Through passengers and freight may go directly past 
the French capital without coming into it. Suppose you are going from 
London to Brindisi to catch the steamer for India or China ; you step 
on the through train at Calais and are carried to Brindisi without 
change of cars, the train running around Paris by the Outer Belt Rail- 
way, and in this way getting from the northern line to the southern 
one on the other side of the city." 

Frank paused and looked at his watch ; then he suggested that the 
outer fortifications of Paris and the railway connections were a long 
way from the Place du Carrousel. Having satisfied their curiosity rel- 
ative to the arch in honor of the first Napoleon, our friends concluded 
to take a drive on the Champs-Elysees, and incidentally embrace the 
opportunity to " take in " any of the sights by the way. 

" While we are upon the Napoleonic subject," said Frank, " we will 
look at the much greater arch, that of l'Etoile ; it is the largest in the 



180 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



world, and we have al- 
ready admired its mag- 
nificent proportions." 

" You mean the great 
arch that we saw from 
the Place de la Con- 



win r" •■• 




corde, as we looked up the Champs- 
Elysees in the direction of the Bois 
de Boulogne, do you not?" queried 
Mrs. Bassett. 

" Yes, that is the one." 
"And is that also in honor of Na- 
poleon the Great ?" 
" Theoretically it is in honor of the French Army ; but as it was be- 
gun by the great Napoleon in 1806, when he was at the head of the 
army, he naturally comes in for a good share of the glory that it com- 



ON THE BOULEVARD. 



ARC DE TRIOMPHE DE L'ETOILE. 181 

memorates. It was not finished until long after his fall from power 
and his death at St. Helena. The completion was accomplished under 
Louis Philippe in 1836, about the time that the ashes of Napoleon were 
brought to Paris and deposited in the crypt under the dome of the 
Invalides, where they now rest." 

As they drove in the direction of the great arch, Frank further said 
that the monument was 160 feet high, 146 feet wide, and 72 feet deep, 
and that the arch in the centre had a clear height of 67 feet. " It can 
be seen from a great distance," he added, " as it stands on an eminence, 
and the top of it gives an extensive view in every direction." 

"When they reached the arch, Mrs. Bassett indicated a desire to as- 
cend the staircase which leads to the top ; so the party made the ascent. 
They walked very slowly, in consequence of a hint from Frank that it 
was their duty to accommodate their pace to suit his mother. Mary 
counted the steps, and found there were 261 of them altogether ; and 
Mrs. Bassett pronounced the fatigue of the journey much less than she 
had expected it. 

They all felt well rewarded for their trouble in the magnificent view 
that they had of the great city. They could trace the windings of the 
Seine in its course through the city and far beyond it. A guide, who had 
attached himself to the party after they had reached the platform, in- 
dicated the various streets, avenues, and boulevards, together with parks, 
churches, forts, and other objects of interest. Mary declared that she 
had a splendid lesson on the geography of Paris, and that the view 
from the top of the great arch had taught her more than she could have 
learned in a day's study of the map of Paris and its surroundings. 

" What a splendid mark this must have been for the German artil- 
lery during the siege of Paris !" said Fred. " I wonder why they didn't 
take special pains to destroy it." 

" It was struck a few times," Frank replied, " but had been so en- 
veloped in straw and boards that it suffered very little. The Germans 
did not wish to destroy this or any other of the monuments of Paris ; 
the sole object of their bombardment was to terrify the inhabitants by 
keeping them in a constant state of alarm, and in this they succeeded 
very well. Shells dropped now and then in all parts of the city, oc- 
casionally setting fire to buildings, but usually doing no damage. The 
excitement and alarm were aided by the scarcity of provisions, which 
soon reached a condition of famine. Food rose to high figures ; all the 
animals in the Jardin d'Acclimatation were killed for food, and so were 
those in the Jardin des Plantes and other menageries. Horses, dogs, 



182 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



mice, rats, cats, and all other animals within reach were utilized for the 
table in the hope that the city could hold out until relief came by the 
raising of the siege. But the end came, and Paris was surrendered, 
as you all know, on the 28th of January, 1871. 

" I can see now why this place is called L'Etoile, or The Star," said 
Mary, as she pointed to the angles formed by the twelve avenues that 




ARC DE L ETOILE. 



radiate from the base of the arch. The guide repeated the names of 
these avenues, but the girl did not note them down, as she did not re- 
gard them equally important. She said she was more interested in the 
Champs-Elysees and the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne than in any of 
the others, which she would leave to take care of themselves. 

On descending, our friends glanced briefly at the numerous groups 
and reliefs which adorn the structure, and at the long list of battles- 
which is presented on the columns of the arch. Mary suggested to 



INSCRIPTIONS ON THE ARCH. 



183 



Fred that he ought to write them out, but he said it would take too 
long ; and if anybody wanted the list and a description of the statuary 
and reliefs, he could buy it for a franc or even less, and read it at his 
leisure. 




the retreat. — [Edouard Detaille.] 



184 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE GREATEST AUCTION-ROOM IN THE WORLD.— VISIT TO THE HOTEL DROUOT.— 
THE "MAZ AS. "—REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW CONCERNING BANKRUPT SALES. 
—COURT-YARD OF THE HOTEL.— THE AUCTIONEERS AND THEIR ASSISTANTS.— 
THE GRIEUR AND HIS DUTIES.— EXPERTS, AND SOME OF THEIR BLUNDERS. 
—A BIT OF ACTING— PERCENTAGES UPON SALES.— GREAT TRANSACTIONS IN 
VALUABLE ARTICLES.— FAMOUS AUCTIONS.— AMOUNTS REALIZED AT THE DEMI- 
DOFF AND OTHER SALES.— HOTEL FIGARO.— A CHAT ABOUT PARISIAN NEWS- 
PAPERS.— TREATMENT OF THE PRESS BY DIFFERENT GOVERNMENTS.— WHAT 
THE PAPERS CONTAIN.— EDITORIAL DUELLISTS.— DUELS IN GENERAL.— FRENCH 
VIEWS OF PERSONAL COMBAT. 

" TTTOULD you like to see the greatest auction-room in the world?" 
» » said Frank, one morning soon after the party had assembled 
and sat down to breakfast. 

" Certainly I would," Mrs. Bassett responded, " though I don't know 

that I wish to buy anything that is 
for sale there." 

" Nor I either," replied Frank ; 
" but the place is a curiosity, and 
we certainly have nothing like it 
in America." 

"Where is this great auction- 
room ?" Mary asked. 

"It is at the Hotel Drouot," 
. was the reply. " Don't understand 
that it is a hotel in the American 
or English sense, but rather in the 
French comprehension. It is a 
house or establishment where 
strangers may find entertainment, 
certainly, but not in the way of 
food, drink, and lodging." 

"What do they sell there?" 
m. chevaliek, auctioneer. queried Mary. 




GOING TO AN AUCTION. 185 

" Everj^thing you can think of, almost, and a great many things you 
would not be likely to name, if you devoted your thoughts to the sub- 
ject for a whole week. You can buy old clothes there suited for all 
ages and both sexes, second-hand furniture, old books, boots, and blank- 
ets, and you may buy diamonds and other gems of great value, India 
shawls of the most exquisite character and of the highest price ; and as 
for pictures, they handle the works of the old masters at the Hotel 
Drouot as though they were the affairs of every day." 

It was agreed that they would go there some time during the day. 
And it was further agreed that Frank should choose the hour when the 
place could be seen to the best advantage. 

" The sales take place every day between one and six o'clock," said 
Frank. "If we go there about two in the afternoon we will find busi- 
ness in full progress. The sales of the best pictures usually occur about 
four o'clock, so as to suit the convenience of the rich men and women 
whose nights are devoted to fashion, so that they sleep very late in 
the morning. We will start soon after luncheon, and that will get us 
to the rooms in good season." 

Under the escort of Fred, Mrs. Bassett and Mary went on a shop- 
ping excursion, while Frank busied himself with his journal, which had 
fallen a little in arrears during the past two clays. He was determined 
to bring it down to date before any further time had elapsed, and so 
he decided to remain in-doors till the rest of the party returned. 

The Hotel Drouot is situated on the street of the same name, which 
runs towards the north from the point where the Boulevard des Italiens 
and the Boulevard Montmartre come together. The hotel is a large 
and not externally attractive building, and Mrs. Bassett was somewhat 
disappointed in its appearance. Frank consoled her with the suggestion 
that the crowd she would see on entering would be much more dingy 
than the outside of the edifice, as it would be necessary for them to 
pass through the assemblage of dealers in old clothes and second-hand 
furniture, or, at all events, in their immediate vicinity. 

" I wonder they allow these people in a place that is devoted to the 
sale of such fine things as you mentioned," remarked Mrs. Bassett, as 
she looked along the gallery and into the court-yard, where there was 
a congregation of people such as one does not usually care to associate 
with except by compulsion. 

"It is owing to the requirements of the law regarding disposal of 
goods by auction, or, rather, certain kinds of auctions," Frank answered. 
"All sales of bankrupt stocks, of property seized for debt, or otherwise 



186 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



having a legal form, must be in la place puhlique, and in the open air. 
Unless sales are thus held they are illegal, and the party whose goods 
are disposed of can make no end of trouble for all concerned. This 
court-yard is open to the public, and it has no roof over it ; therefore, it 
is in compliance with the law, and nobody can make any objection. 
Sometimes they have some very extensive sales here, when the property 
of distinguished personages who have been living beyond their means 
is seized by legal process, and, as we would say in America, ' sold out 
by the sheriff.' Ordinary goods and household property voluntarily 
disposed of may be sold in one of the rooms of the ' Mazas,' as all the 
lower part of the Hotel Drouot is called. If a man is in need of what- 
ever money he can get by the sale of his furniture, or for any other rea- 
son wishes to part with it, he calls here any afternoon and gives the 
order for the sale. The next morning the goods are brought here, and 
in the afternoon they are sold without reserve. The auctioneer deducts 
his commission, which is by no means a light one, and hands over the 
balance of the proceeds to the former owner of the property. 

" This is the every-day affair, and there is always a crowd of specu- 
lators standing ready to buy whatever is offered, no matter what it may 
be. A sale of this sort is usually not advertised at all ; but if the goods 
belong to an individual of distinction, or notoriety, which is pretty much 

the same thing in Paris, 
the sale is fixed for a 
certain day not far off, 
and is advertised in the 
papers. The advertise- 
ments are sure to bring 
a crowd, and sometimes 
you will see one of these 
'Mazas' rooms filled with 
fashionable people not 
only from Paris, but from 
London, Berlin, Vienna, 
and other cities." 

An auction was in 

progress in one of the 

rooms, and our friends 

went in to look on for a 

few minutes. The assemblage was of an ordinary kind, and so was the 

material for sale. The crowd in front of the auctioneer was so dense 




AN EXPERT IN OLD COINS. 



188 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and unsavory, and the place so hot and generally uncomfortable, that 
the strangers were satisfied after standing for a few minutes on the 
outer periphery of the circle of spectators. 

" I should have fainted in two minutes more," said Mrs. Bassett, as 
they got outside the room; "and yet I suppose there are men and 
women who come here every day to attend these sales and stay in their 
places from beginning to end of them." 

"Certainly there are," replied Frank, "just as you find that class of 
people around the auction-rooms in every great city. They make a liv- 
ing at the business by buying anything that is going for less than its 
value, and selling it for its worth and frequently something more. Bar- 
gains may be picked up here as well as in other auction-rooms ; but in 
order to avoid deception, one must know the exact worth of everything 
on which he places a bid. It is a common trick to sell as a bankrupt 
stock, or as ' the property of a gentleman who is suddenly compelled to 
leave the country,' articles that have come straight from the factory 
where they were made and have never been in use. I heard a day or 
two ago of the sale of some Cashmere shawls that ' belonged to an East 
Indian rajah, who was compelled to sacrifice them at any price.' The 
shawls were imitation ones from an English factory, and had never been 
seen by a rajah or any other East Indian." 

Saying this, Frank led the way up-stairs to where the real interest 
in the auction sales was to be found. The auctioneer was offering some 
paintings which were alleged to be from the easels of distinguished art- 
ists. There was a crowd of buyers in front of him, who were bidding in 
a manner that did not betray much excitement, though doubtless some 
of them were concealing their real feelings under a cloak of apparent 
indifference. The auctioneer is assisted in his labors by a crieur, or 
crier, whose duty it is to do the greater part of the talking ; he stands in 
front of the auctioneer's desk, repeating the bids that have been made, 
encouraging other bids, watching the faces in the crowd, keeping a keen 
eye out for a nod, a wink, the movement of a finger — anything that indi- 
cates a bid, and is intended to be concealed from the crowd. His words 
and sentences are deftly mingled with those of the auctioneer, and he 
saves his superior a great amount of vocal labor. One thing he must 
possess above all others to be a successful crier : he must have a clear 
and melodious voice that can make itself heard all through the hall, 
and at the same time it must not be a boisterous one. 

" The crier now on duty," said Frank, " is Daire, and he is known to 
the patrons of this part of the Hotel Drouot for the past quarter of a 



A BIT OF EXPERIENCE. 



189 



feY','V 4 

ffi : ^fe'< ,'"'^- v^S f ^-Ssr" .^'>-,.jr^^t-M- :f fh -'Mtii ■ '.'■. i //' 




A PRIVATE VIEW. 



century. He is the chief of all the other criers, and his word is law 
among them. He is here every day, but does not always officiate, re- 
serving himself for the largest and best of the sales, which are his exclu- 
sive province, and pay him handsomely." 

" He reminds me of the town-crier whom we used to have when I 
was a little girl," Mrs. Bassett remarked in a whisper to her son. " But 
he doesn't carry a bell, as our town-crier did, probably for the reason 
that a bell would be out of place here." 

" But there are several belles among the buyers and spectators," said 
Mary, with a smile. Mrs. Bassett did not catch the time-honored pun, 
but looked in vain through the assemblage for bells of the town-crier 



190 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

sort. She saw several pretty faces, but the majority of their owners 
seemed more intent upon chatting with their neighbors than in bidding 
upon the pictures. One fair Frenchwoman, however, had a catalogue 
in her hand, and when a certain picture was offered she began to bid 
eagerly. Her bidding aroused others, and the painting brought a good 
price. She was not the purchaser, and Mrs. Bassett wondered why the 
woman failed to secure the object for which she seemed so desirous. 

" She's probably a friend of the artist," whispered Frank, " and sim- 
ply wished to help the sale along. This practice is a well-known one in 
art auctions all the world over, and in no place is it practised to greater 
perfection than in New York. Probably she wasn't at all inclined to 
buy the picture, and her eagerness was a bit of fine acting that would 
do credit to the stage of the Theatre Francais." 

" She is an actress at the Theatre," said an English-speaking 

by-stander, touching his hat and bowing to Frank, " and the artist is 
her brother. The crier and auctioneer both know who she is, and so do 
some of the people here, but the majority of them suppose she is a genu- 
ine purchaser." 

Frank thanked the gentleman for his explanation of the reason for 
the pretty woman's apparent anxiety to buy, when she was really trying 
to induce somebody else to invest his money. She evidently succeeded, 
and her look of disappointment when the picture was knocked down 
was well managed and worthy the admiration of all who saw it. 

It is proper to remark that the auctioneers of the Hotel Drouot are 
well versed in their business, which is to obtain the highest possible 
prices for whatever comes under the hammer in that establishment. 
The auctioneer and the crier at a great sale study the crowd before them 
with the greatest care, and they display wonderful skill in creating a 
fever among the purchasers, when such a thing is possible. They can 
readily determine when a bidder has reached his limit, or when he is in- 
clined to go beyond his last offer, and their arts of cajolery are of the 
best. It is impossible to describe them in writing, and we will not haz- 
ard an attempt to do so. 

" How much do the auctioneers receive for their services ?" Mrs. Bas- 
sett asked, during a pause in the sales. 

" Their compensation depends very much upon the character of the 
articles sold, the cost of advertising, catalogues, and other contingent 
expenses. At the commencement of a sale the auctioneer announces 
that purchasers will be required to pay a tax of 5 per cent, on the 
amount of their bids, a practice that is unknown in America. Suppose 



AUCTIONEERS OF PARIS. 



191 



I have offered $100 for a picture, and it has been knocked down to me. 
When I go to pay for it I find that I must pay $105 before it will be de- 
livered, and the same rate is maintained on all purchases, great or small. 

" For example, a great painting was sold here a few years ago for 
$120,000. The purchasers had to pay $5600 additional in consequence 
of the 5 per cent, tax, and then the seller of the picture paid 10 per 
cent, to the auctioneer for disposing of it. This amounted to $12,000, 
and so the cost of transferring this picture from seller to buyer left the 
neat little sum of $17,600 in the hands of the men connected with the 
Hotel Drouot and the business conducted here." 

" The auction business ought to be very profitable," was the very 
natural comment that followed this piece of information. 

"And so it is," was the reply. "The business of the Hotel Drouot 
amounts to many millions of francs every year, and sometimes the sales 
of a single day will require seven figures to represent them. The ex- 
penses of a sale are never less than 8 per cent., and may amount 
to 25 per cent., or very near that 
figure. The auctioneers of Paris 
are an association created by the 
law, and they have an official 
character like the clerks and low- 
er officials in the employ of the 
Government. They are a close 
corporation, like the Stock Ex- 
change of New York ; and before 
a man can act as auctioneer he 
must deposit 20,000 francs in the 
public treasury to insure his hon- 
esty in dealing with his customer ; 
then he must be elected to the 
association, and receive an ap- 
pointment from the Government. 
"When he wants to retire from 
business he sells it out to a suc- 
cessor, who must be approved by 
the officers of the association or 
the public authorities. The auc- 
tion business is so profitable that a million francs and more has been 
paid for the ' good-will ' of a retiring auctioneer, and the most ordinary 
of them can obtain 200,000 francs for his rights in the association." 




DAIRE, THE MASTER CRIER. 



192 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Why don't you buy out one of the auctioneers here and set up for 
yourself ?" Mary asked, jocularly, turning to Fred. 

" I couldn't do it," said Fred, in response, " as no one but a citizen 
of France is eligible. A man of any other nationality would be shown 

to the door with the most frigid po- 
liteness." 

" But there's one place that you 
can take here without the necessity 
of being a Frenchman," said Frank, 
as Fred ended his reply to Mary. 
" You can be an expert." 

" "What is an expert ?" Mrs. Bas- 
sett asked, turning to Frank. 

" He is the man who puts a val- 
uation upon articles offered for sale, 
so as to guide the auctioneer in his 
work. You may have your goods 
valued or not, as you choose ; but 
if you call in an expert to value 
them, you must pay him a com- 
mission of 3 per cent, on the amount 
^V* received. A buyer who does not 
trust his own judgment may also 
employ an expert to help him, or a 
dozen if he likes ; but when he calls 
an expert to his aid, he may quite 
possibly secure the very one who 
is in the interest of the seller, or has a friend who is so interested. 

"Experts have their different lines of business," continued Frank, 
" as it is naturally impossible for one man to know the value of every- 
thing. One is an expert of old paintings, another of modern ones ; an- 
other is an expert in coins, antiquities, and the like ; another confines 
himself to old books, another to lace, and so on through the vast list of 
things that come here to be sold. A good expert must be able to say 
pretty nearly at what price an article will sell ; and if it runs much 
above or falls below his figures, the result is a discredit to his judgment." 
" Don't they make mistakes sometimes ?" 

"Yes, the best of them will blunder, but, as a rule, they are won- 
derfully correct in their estimates. A story is told of one of the best 
of the experts in faience, who fixed the price of a vase at $20, and 




REGULAR VISITOR. 



194 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



was very greatly astonished when it sold at auction for just forty 
times that amount ($800), and was afterwards disposed of by the pur- 
chaser for $2000. Another expert once ascribed a portrait of one of the 
kings of France to an artist who died fifty years before the king was 
born ; but this expert was by no means one of the highest rank. Any 
man can be an expert, or call himself one, and he does not belong to a 
close corporation like the auctioneers." 

Frank regretted that there was no great sale in prospect — something 
of an unusual character, like the Duchesse de Berry, the Demidoff, the 
San Donato, the Marshal Soult, and other famous sales of which all the 
collectors and amateurs all over the world are aware. These sales are 
advertised for months beforehand, and purchasers flock to them from 
all parts of Europe and America to purchase the curiosities that are to 
go under the hammer. The articles are placed on exhibition, and pros- 
pective buyers have the privilege of examining them in the show-rooms 
for a few days before the sale begins. Their extent may be realized 
when it is known that the Demidoff sales brought in an aggregate of 

15,000,000 francs, and other sales 
have fallen not far behind it. 

Mrs. Bassett said that the in- 
spection of the articles in one of 
these famous sales would be like 
going through a museum. 

"Very much like it," replied 
Frank, " and a museum of no or- 
dinary character. Books, jewels, 
furniture, pictures, bric-a-brac, and 
many other things that have be- 
longed to royal or imperial per- 
sonages have been sold here, and 
their history is so clearly traced 
that there can be no doubt of their 
genuineness. The rarest of old 
books and engravings come here 
for a market ; and, in fact, the 
rarest and best of everything in 
the way of curiosities have passed 
in and out of the Hotel Drouot." 

On inquiry, Frank learned that 
the goods from the private collec- 




AN AMATEUR. 



VISITING A PICTURE SALE. 195 

tion of an eccentric gentleman who had recently died was to come under 
the hammer the next day, and were then on view in one of the rooms. 
So they went there and feasted their eyes npon rare paintings by famous 




WAITING FOR BUSINESS. 



artists, and choice vases from Japan and China, rugs from Persia and 
Daghestan, shawls from Cashmere, plates and cups from Sevres, swords 
from Damascus, wood and ivory carvings from India, and a variety of 
other things which Frank said were altogether too numerous to mention 
in detail. They spent an hour among these curiosities and then returned 
to join the crowd at the picture sale. 

The auctioneer, crier, and audience had warmed to their work, and 
the room had warmed at the same time, as it was not by any means 
ventilated after the modern ideas. Bidding was lively and in large 
sums ; a painting was started at 500 francs and reached 2000, at 
which figure it was secured by somebody, but whether the price ob- 
tained was above or below its real value we will not pretend to say. 
Then there rose a question which Mrs. Bassett propounded to Frank 
as to what made one picture worth a hundred or five hundred times 
the value of another that was equally pleasing to the eye. 



196 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" That question has been asked a great many times," said Frank, 
" and the best answer I know of is that the demand makes the value. 
' A thing is worth what it will fetch ' is an old saying, and perhaps as 
near the truth as we can get. Articles become valuable in proj)ortion 
to their rarity, their merit, or their associations, or all three combined. 
Any one of us would give more for a book or a walking-stick that had 
belonged to the Duke of Wellington or the Emperor of China than to 
one that had no history or association whatever connected with it, al- 
though the two sticks may be precisely alike. Pictures by the old 
painters of past centuries are worth more than equally good pictures by 
living artists ; when a modern artist of reputation dies his pictures are 
at once increased in value, because no more of them can be made. The 
autograph of Andrew Johnson is more valuable than that of any other 
President of the United States, Washington not excepted, for the reason 
that very few of his autographs are in existence ; Washington's auto- 
graphs are less valuable than those of certain other men of his time, for 
the reason that they are more numerous, though Washington is far bet- 
ter known than any one of the men to whom I refer. And you may 
say of all the rare things sold at the Hotel Drouot, that they are worth 
what people are willing to pay for them for the sake of their possession." 

Having satisfied their curiosity relative to the Hotel Drouot and 
the business conducted there, our friends left the building and strolled 
along the street of the same name, till they came to what Prank said 
was the Hotel Figaro, the office of the newspaper of that name. It 
is one of the curiosities of newspaper buildings, as it is in the style of 
architecture prevalent in Spain nearly three hundred years ago, and is 
adorned with a fine statue representing the character of Figaro, in the 
well-known opera " The Barber of Seville." Frank told his mother that 
the Figaro newspaper was a witty and satirical journal with a large 
circulation, and a decided hostility to the republican form of govern- 
ment, though of late years it shows a willingness to tolerate it for a 
while. The idea of its founder was to make a newspaper which should 
be readable from beginning to end ; and he seems to have succeeded very 
well, if we may judge by the way the paper is talked about. 

The visit to the office of Figaro led to a talk concerning the news- 
papers of Paris and their general character and standing. 

" There are more newspapers here than in New York," said Frank 
to his mother, in reply to a question concerning them ; " but our Ameri- 
can papers contain ten times as much real news as the journals of the 
French capital. There are sixty or more dailies here in Paris, but some 



€4m 



s " 




1 









198 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



of them are so obscure that you might live here for years without know- 
ing of their existence. The paper with the largest circulation is the 
Petit Journal, which, is sold for one sou (one cent), and the high-priced 
paper with the largest circulation (about one hundred thousand) is the 
Figaro. One of the best of the republican papers is the Journal des 
Debats, and side by side with it in character and political leaning is the 
La Republique Frangais. Figaro costs four sous (cents), and the prices 
of the other newspapers vary from four sous down to one, but are gen- 
erally two sous, which seems to be the popular price." 

" What are the papers filled with," queried Mrs. Bassett, " if they 
contain as little news as you suggest ?" 

" They are filled with political articles, stories, theatrical notes, gos- 
sip, and matters of that sort, and they have a little news now and then 
when they cannot well avoid it. They have telegraphic matter from 
various parts of the world, but less than you will find in any paper in 
the United States, in a city having more than ten thousand inhabitants. 
Their news is generally confined 
to a bare announcement of an 
event, and they will give a few 
lines to what an American paper 
would consider of sufficient im- 
portance to have a column or 
two." 

As Frank paused, Fred asked 

him to tell about Mr. , the 

American journalist they had met 
a few days before, and his experi- 
ence with a French newspaper in 
the matter of news. 

" Oh yes," said Frank, " that's 

a good case in point. Mr. 

is connected with a prominent 
newspaper in New York, and 
came here a few weeks ago for a 
vacation. He speaks French eas- 
ily, and had an introduction to 

the editor of one of the Paris papers. He was cordially received, in- 
vited to an editorial breakfast at the restaurant Du Chat Noir, and 
there made the acquaintance of several members of the French press; 
who were very courteous to him. 




A BUYER OF OLD BOOKS. 



NEWSPAPERS OF PARIS. • 199 

" A few days after his arrival lie went out into the country twenty 
or thirty miles from Paris to visit a friend. Close by his friend's house 
was a large factory, which took fire and was burned to the ground dur- 
ing his visit, causing great excitement in the village. Thinking he would 
do a good thing for the French editor who had treated him so kindly, 
and with the true instinct of the trained journalist, he gathered par- 
ticulars enough of the fire to fill not less than a column, and hastened 
to Paris by an evening train. He went straight to the office of his 
friend, and delivered his budget of manuscript so that it was in ample 
time to appear in full. Imagine his chagrin the next morning to find 
that his column of matter had been cut down to exactly two and a half 
lines containing the bare announcement of the fire. It was all that the 
paper cared for, and, as a newspaper is made up to meet the wants of 
its readers, it was probably all that the public desired. 

" The oldest Parisian newspaper," continued Prank, " is the Gazette 
de France, which was founded in 1631. It has been suppressed a few 
times, but never for a long period, and it generally manages to be on 
the side of the existing Government, or so mild in its opposition that no 
one is offended by it. Under the first and second empires earnest 
opposition was not allowed ; whenever a newspaper made itself trouble- 
some, the Emperor suppressed it without hesitation. During the revo- 
lution of 1789 a great many newspapers appeared, but when Napoleon 
I. came into power he suppressed nearly all of them. 

"The French were allowed more liberty of the press under Louis 
Philippe than before, although the great majority of the papers of his 
day were opposed to the liberal King. After the fall of Louis Philippe, 
in 1818, some one remarked to Louis Napoleon that the freedom of the 
press had overturned the royal throne. The ' nephew of his uncle ' is said 
to have put his hand to the side of his face, and he remained in a con- 
templative attitude for a minute or more. When he came into power 
he suppressed nearly all papers that showed any hostility to him, and 
he continued to muzzle the press until his downfall. When the repub- 
lic was established in 1871, great numbers of newspapers appeared. 
They were not disturbed by the Government, with a very few excep- 
tions, but they were so numerous that it was impossible for all to exist. 
Many of them died, and some that survived only kept alive through 
their advertising columns and their readiness to give notoriety to any- 
body who was willing to pay for it." 

Mrs. Bassett asked Frank about the newspapers of Paris that were 
printed in the English language. She had seen the Paris edition of the 



200 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



New York Herald and also the American Register, and wondered if 
there were any others. 

" The oldest paper in Paris in the English language," said Frank, 
"is Galignani's Messenger, and for a long time it had a monopoly of 
the patronage of the English reading public. As the newspaper men 
say, it was a ' scissors and paste ' affair, as its contents other than the 
advertisements consisted entirely of clippings from English and Ameri- 
can papers, with just as many written words as were needed for head- 
lines and nothing more. It was a gold-mine for its owner until it was 
obliged to share the field with others, and also reduce its price ; further- 
more, it was compelled, through the competition against it, to have some 
original writing in its columns, instead of relying entirely upon clip- 




A SERIOUS DUEL. 



pings. The number of Americans and English in Paris and on the Con- 
tinent is so large that all the papers in our language are said to be do- 
ing well, and we shall certainly hope that such is the case." 



AMERICAN VIEWS OF DUELLING. 201 

Mary had read something in one of the French papers about a duel 
between an editor and somebody else, and asked if such things were 
common in Paris and when they took place. 

"Duels are not confined to editors and those whom they have of- 
fended," replied Frank, " but are the fashionable amusement of a good- 
ly number of Parisians, and, occasionally, foreigners." 

" Amusement !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, in astonishment. " How can 
you think of calling a duel an amusement ?" 

" "Why," replied the young man, " because it is so rarely injurious 
to any one, and because a duel attracts the public attention and is gen- 
erally a great entertainment to all those who are not personally con- 
cerned. Most of the duels in France are ridiculous for a variety of rea- 
sons ; if pistols are used, an exchange of shots without anybody being 
hit is usually sufficient to avenge the offended dignity of the comba- 
tants, and they shake hands and become friends, or as friendly as the 
customs of society require ; if the men fight with swords, a mere touch 
to draw a few drops of blood is sufficient, and men have been accused 
of carrying small phials of blood under their clothing, and breaking them 
surreptitiously at the proper moment. In many cases the police are no- 
tified, so that they can appear at the right moment and stop the duel, 
and then the would-be combatants are put under bonds to keep the 
peace and their hostility to each other comes to an end. 

" Some of the journalists of Paris are notorious for the duels they 
have fought, but I will not add to their notoriety by naming them. 
One, in particular, is said to have fought a duel for every year of his 
life. He is one of the most abusive men that ever wielded a pen, and 
the French language does not contain words too bad for him to apply 
to any one who does not agree with him in politics. His policy is to 
goad an opponent until the latter feels obliged to send a challenge. 

The challenged party has the choice of weapons ; and, as Mr. is 

accounted the best swordsman in Europe, he selects swords, and can kill 
his adversary if he chooses. Another famous duellist follows the same 
plan, but the pistol is his favorite weapon, and he always chooses it." 

" These men are no better than murderers !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, 
in a tone of horror, as Frank paused. 

"A great many other people, and Frenchmen, too, believe as you 
do," said Frank ; " but duelling is so firmly fixed among the customs of 
the French that it cannot be eradicated. Happily, though, it appears 
to be on the decline, and the laws against it are constantly becoming 
more and more severe." 



202 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

Then Frank indulged in a bit of moralizing, in which he said the 
duel was a relic of the Middle Ages, when it was believed that disputes 
should be settled by personal combat, the one who was in the right be- 
ing sure of the victory. That the victor was right and the vanquished 
wrong in his quarrel was the belief of those times. Its absurdity had 
long since been clearly proven, and by none more forcibly than Napo- 
leon I., who said that in war Providence was on the side of the strong- 
est battalions and the heaviest artillery. Duelling ought, he considered, 
to be placed by the side of the belief in charms and enchantments, as it 
is altogether unworthy of any regard on the part of an intelligent people. 
The duel to-day is nothing more than a proof of a man's bravery, espe- 
cially when he meets an antagonist whom he knows to be more skilful 
than himself in the use of weapons. 

"And the duel seems to me the most ridiculous thing in the world," 
said Fred. "Let us suppose that John deliberately insults Charles. 
John thereby shows that he is not a gentleman, which Charles claims 
to be ; but, under the code of the duel, Charles is obliged to challenge 
John to a combat which may be mortal. Thus Charles, the gentleman, 
places himself on an equality with John, whose conduct is not that of 
a gentleman. Furthermore, John, the challenged party, has the choice 
of weapons. He chooses those in which he is most skilful, and thus 
Charles, by his challenge, is at a disadvantage in the combat which 
ensues. Charles is wounded, and perhaps killed, while John gets off 
unharmed. Charles, the victim of the insult, goes to the hospital or the 
cemetery, while his in suiter resumes his former course of life, and is 
free, temporarily or permanently, from the presence of the man whom 
he affronted. Altogether, it seems to me that duelling is absurd in prin- 
ciple as well as unjust in its results, and the wonder is that sensible 
people tolerate it in this age of intelligence." 

" The moral is," said Frank, " that nobody should fight a duel." 

" Certainly," replied Fred, " especially when the other man has him 
at a disadvantage." 



A DRIVE TO THE EIFFEL TOWER. 



203 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE EIFFEL TOWER ; ITS HEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS ; COMPARISON WITH THE WASH- 
INGTON MONUMENT; PLANS FOR ITS CONSTRUCTION; HOW THE COST WAS 
DEFRAYED; TRIUMPH OF THE RIVET IN BUILDING; HOW THE ASCENT IS 
MADE.— ELEVATORS OF AMERICAN AND FRENCH CONSTRUCTION.— THE TRAV- 
ELLER WHO WANTED TO GO TO " COMPLET."— A MIXED ASSEMBLAGE.— SCENES 
ON THE DIFFERENT PLATFORMS. —DINNER IN A HIGH PLACE. — VIEW FROM 
THE UPPER STORY. — EFFECT OF WIND AND RAIN— PARIS AT NIGHT FROM 
THE TOWER. — AN EXPERIENCE IN SOCIETY. — THE SALONS OF PARIS AND 
THEIR PECULIARITIES.— MADAME EDMOND ADAM AND HER RECEPTIONS.— AN- 
ECDOTE OF GAMBETTA.— JULIETTE LAMBER. 



r I^HE air is very clear, and we can have a fine view from the top of 
J- the Eiffel Tower," said Frank. " Suppose we go there." 

Mrs. Bassett assented at 
jmgammmmagmmgm __ . once to the proposal, and so 

did the others of the party. 

Accordingly, they drove 
to the foot of the wonderful 
tower on the bank of the 
Seine, at one end of the 
Champ de Mars. During the 
ride to it Frank explained 
; to his mother and sister the 
history of the landmark that 
is visible from all parts of 
the city and from beyond the 
line of fortifications which 
have already been described. 
"The tower was one of 
the features of the great ex- 
hibition of 1889," said Frank, 
" and is the loftiest edifice in 
the world." 
" How much higher is it than the Washington Monument ?" 




SOUVENIRS OF THE TOWER. 



204 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Almost twice as high," was the reply. " The top of the Washing- 
ton Monument is 554 feet from the ground, while that of the Eiffel 
Tower is 983 feet, and if you include the flag-staff you can call the Eif- 
fel Tower a good 
•^^^ r thousand feet in 

height, or almost 
one - fifth of a 
mile." 
if "It looks very 

light compared 
with the Wash- 
ington Monu- 
ment," said Mrs. 
Bassett, " but that 
is probably be- 
cause it is built 
of iron instead of 
stone." 

"That ac- 
counts for it," 
said Frank. "The 
Washington Mon- 
ument weighs 45,- 
500 tons,while the 
Eiffel Tower, al- 
most twice as tall, 
weighs only 7500 
tons. By using 
iron instead of 
stone they got al- 
most twice as far 
up in the air with 
■ only one - sixth 
of the weight. 
When the new 
metal aluminium is cheap enough to come into general use and take the 
place of iron, we may expect to see a tower 2000 feet high Avith less 
weight than that of the structure before us." 

As soon as Mary had a chance to ask a question she showed the 
practical turn of her mind by asking the cost of the tower. 




TAKING THE ELEVATOR. 



THE EIFFEL TOWER. 205 

" The cost is said to have been a million and a quarter dollars," said 
Fred, referring to a description of the tower, which he glanced at from 
time to time. " The Government contributed $300,000, and the city 
gave the land on which the tower stands. The rest of the cost was 
paid for by a company, and it is said that the investment was a profit- 
able one. At the end of twenty years the tower is to become the pro- 
perty of the Government, and will be moved to the hill of Montmartre 
— or, at any rate, that was the original intention." 

Fred gave other details concerning it, for which we have no room 
here. His account of the inception and progress of the work was cut 
short by the arrival of the carriage at the base of the tower, or as near 
to it as carriages are allowed to go. As they descended to the ground, 
where Frank paid and discharged the driver, our friends were beset by 
a crowd of peddlers who had all sorts of souvenirs of the Eiffel Tower 
for sale. There were pin - cushions, pencils, sleeve-buttons, snuffboxes, 
match-boxes, pen-holders, scarf-pins, and many other things, all bearing 
pictures of the tower in one form or another, or with a microscopic 
view of it deftly concealed or painfully apparent. All these venders 
seemed determined to make a sale, and they hung closely and annoy- 
ingly around until the gate was reached, where the line is drawn against 
them. Evidently they must drive a profitable trade among the visitors, 
or they would not be as numerous as they are. 

" The tower may be considered quadrupedal," wrote Mary in her 
account of the visit, "as it has four legs which support it. It is ever so 
much longer and larger than any other quadruped that the world has 
ever known ; even the mammoth elephant at Coney Island is dwarfed 
into the dimensions of a pug-dog by this Eiffel animal. There is an 
immense fountain under the central arch formed by the junction of the 
four great legs. The fountain is emblematic of all the world which 
gathered here for the exhibition in the year of the tower's completion. 
Take away the fountain, and you could put the whole Fifth Avenue 
Hotel of New York under the arch formed beneath the central part of 
the tower ; and even after the hotel was placed there you would have a 
good deal of space to spare for smaller hotels. 

" The iron legs rest upon granite feet, and these feet are sunk deep 
into the ground, so that they stand on the solid rock. There are sinews 
of steel joining the legs to the feet ; probably the legs would rest there 
if not fastened at all, but the architect was determined to allow no op- 
portunity for an overturn of the great structure by a high wind such as 
sometimes sweeps over Paris both in summer and winter. 



206 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




ON THE SUMMIT. 



"We walked around a little while to look at the tower from below 
and learn how it was built. Fred's head seemed to be what Dr. 
Holmes calls ' an ant-hill of units and tens,' and he said so much about 
matter-of-fact things that I can't remember the half of them. One 
thing I remember is that the tower is a triumph of the power of the 
rivet to hold iron together. Two and a half million rivets were used 
in making the tower, and more than seven million rivet -holes were 
bored. And what struck me as curious was that every piece of iron 
was fashioned, and every rivet-hole was bored or punched, at the Eiffel 



ASCENDING BY ELEVATOR. 207 

factory, miles and miles away, before it was sent to Paris. Beams, 
joists, girders, and all other pieces of iron-work were carefully planned, 
and the place of each and every piece was marked on the plans, so that 
the engineers knew exactly where it was to go when it came here. 
Fred said that 40 draughtsmen were busy for two years in preparing 
the 500 drawings for the engineers and 2500 working plans, by which 
everything was made ready. It reminded me of the story of the build- 
ing of King Solomon's temple, and mamma said she thought the same 
thing while Fred was talking about the great work. 

" Everything was so exact that when they were laying the floor of 
the second story they found that the two western legs of the tower were 
just one-fifth of an inch higher than the two eastern ones. I thought 
that was certainly near enough for all possible purposes, but Fred said it 
wasn't, and that this slight difference would have thrown all the rivet- 
holes of the upper part of the tower out of place. How do you suppose 
they corrected the mistake after finding it ? 

" Fred says there is a hydraulic screw-press fitted to the shoe of each 
of the four feet of the tower. By means of the screw-presses they low- 
ered the western feet the needed one-fifth of an inch, and then the work 
went on all right. Is there anything in the world more exact than the 
science of engineering ? If so, tell me. 

" Well, here we are at the office where we buy our tickets for the 
top. There are three kinds of tickets — one for the whole distance, and 
one for each of the first and second stories. It costs four francs (eighty 
cents) to the top, three francs for the second story, and two francs for 
the first. We intended to go all the way to the top, and so Fred paid 
the sixteen francs necessary for the four through tickets. I said the 
ticket -office, but there are four offices, there being an elevator and a 
ticket-office in each of the four legs of the tower. There are American 
elevators, or lifts, in two of the legs, and French ones in the other two. 
We determined to patronize home institutions, and so went up in one of 
the American elevators. The American lifts run up to the second plat- 
form, but the French ones stop at the first platform. In the upper or 
straight part of the tower there is only a French one, known as the 
'Ascenseur Edoux,' from the name of its inventor. Fred suggested 
that Mr. Edoux, who invented this lift, may possibly be a relative of 
' Billet Doux,' a name with which a good many school-girls are familiar. 
Frank said that if the tower company has not yet paid for the elevator 
there must be a very large billet due to the maker of it. I was about to 
' say my say,' when mamma asked us to wait till we had more leisure. 



208 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



u The builders of the American elevators had. a difficult problem to 
solve when they undertook their share of the work, as they had to make 
an elevator which would run on an incline and also go in a curve. It 
was easy enough to go on an incline — that has been done often, so Fred 
says — but this is the first time they ever undertook to run an elevator in 
a circle. I can't explain how it is done ; Fred tried to tell me, but he 
made my head ache, and I wasn't any wiser when he finished than before 
he began. At all events, they accomplished what they started for, and 
certainly they should be very proud of what they have done. The ele- 
vator is the first of its kind, and it will hold fifty passengers ; and they 
say there has never been an accident of any kind with it. 

" If this elevator was in America they would probably crowd in just as 
many people as could stand in it, no matter how much the passengers were 

squeezed. But that 
isn't the way they 
do things in France. 
Omnibuses, tram- 
cars, and all oth- 
er kinds of public 
conveyance never 
take more passen- 
gers than can find 
places to sit, except 
some of the omni- 
buses, which have a 
certain number of 
standing places on 
# the rear platform. 

'£ When all the seats 

of an omnibus are 
taken they display a 
little sign bearing 
the word l Complet' > 
(Full), and then it 
doesn't stop to take 
up any more pas- 
sengers until some 
have left it. And 
that reminds me of 
writing letters. a story connected 





,**itt^ 



ON THE PLATFORMS. 209 

with that word which I'll tell right here, although you may possibly 
have heard it before. 

" An American who was once in Paris and knew nothing of the lan- 
guage used to go about the city on the omnibuses, and in this way he 
visited all the principal points. But he complained to a friend that there 
was one place, called Complet, which he could never get to. He had seen 
a great many omnibuses going to it, and had hailed them, but they were 
always full and would never stop for him. He knew that the place 
must be worth seeing, as there were so many people going there. 

" The elevator here takes only just as many passengers as it can seat, 
and when all the seats are occupied the door is closed. We took our 
places in the line, and had to wait perhaps a quarter of an hour before 
there was room for us. But the time was not by any means wasted, as 
we had leisure to study the crowd ; and a very interesting one it was. 

" There were very few who appeared to be residents of Paris. I sup- 
pose the residents have already seen the tower, or else are waiting for 
a convenient day to ascend it, just as people in Buffalo are waiting for a 
convenient day to visit Magara Falls, which they have lived within 
twenty miles of for years and years but have never seen. The French- 
speaking people in the crowd appeared to be almost without exception 
from the rural part of France or from some other country. There were 
several Russians and three or four Belgians talking French to one an- 
other, and then there were Swiss, Spaniards, Italians ; and we must not 
forget that there were English and Americans. 

" Some of the strangers had never seen an elevator before, and their 
performances on the way up were interesting. One man tried the floor 
by stamping on it to see if there was danger that the elevator would 
break down, and his friend shook it by the hand-rail in a similar investi- 
gation as to its durability. When the machinery was set in motion and 
the lift was under way some of the women gave little hysterical screams, 
and one turned pale and appeared as though she would faint. Some 
Americans who were evidently from the rural districts commented upon 
the price of the journey, and came to the conclusion that eighty cents 
for a distance of less than a thousand feet was altogether too much. 
* I've been from Boston to Portland for fifty cents,' said one, ' and that's 
more'n a hundred miles. Eighty cents for this 'ere ride's a swindle, but 
I s'pose it's because they take us up in the air instead of going on a 
level. Don't see what else it can be.' 

" We changed from one elevator to another at the first platform. We 
had to wait here for our turn, as at the foot of the tower, but Fred was 

14 



210 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




CHIEF OF THE GUARDS. 



right when he said there was plenty of room to wait in. If you are 
thirsty or hungry there is a restaurant that is ready to supply you with 
drink or food ; and one of our American fellow-passengers suggested 
that they ought to have a regular hotel up there, where people could 

lodge, and he was sure it would be pat- 
ronized. Frank stepped aside and had a 
short conversation with the head waiter of 
the restaurant, but we did not learn until 
later what they were talking about. 

" A large proportion of the visitors had 
only taken tickets to this platform. Some 
of them bought places to the second plat- 
form after reaching this one, and others 
did not. Probably the managers of the 
tower have found it to their advantage to 
permit people to buy on the instalment 
plan. Many who would not spend the 
eighty cents required for a through ticket 
will readily buy to the first platform, and 
perhaps afterwards they will make the en- 
tire journey. Even if they go no farther than this the company has 
obtained a revenue from them which otherwise it would not have ob- 
tained at all. Human nature is sometimes queer. 

" "We went on as soon as we could to the upper story. I'll tell you 
more about the first platform when we get back to it. 

" We changed at the second and third floors without delay, and pres- 
ently found ourselves at the top, where we had what may be called a 
bird's-eye view. A gentleman who was here in 1878, and went up in the 
captive balloon which they had that year, says the view from the top 
floor of the tower is exactly like that from the balloon. ~No wonder 
it was, as the balloon went up to a height of 1000 feet, and this is the 
height where we are now. And what a view it is ! 

" There was a custodian, or guide, on the top floor to point out the 
places of interest. He told us that the range of vision extended thirty 
miles in every direction, and he pointed out villages and towns fifteen, 
twenty, and more miles away, to prove the correctness of what he said. 
He indicated the forts which protect the city ; as for indicating the city 
itself, there was no need of his doing so, for it lay before us like a map 
on a carpet. The Seine wriggles through the city like a silver serpent, 
and you can trace it from one side of your range of vision to the other 



VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. 



211 



without the least difficulty, save where it is embowered here and there 
in the forest. We can follow the roads in the Bois de Boulogne, and, 
turning to the other side of the picture, can do the same in the Bois de 
Yincennes. The spires of the great churches are all far below us — in 
fact, there is nothing to interfere with our sight in any direction. Yes, 
there was something ; it was a shower that came sweeping along from 
the west and for a little while buried from our vision all that lay beneath 
it. A cloud passed along where we stood, and we felt the rain-drops 
pattering, though luckily there were not many of them, and the sky was 
soon clear again and the picture bright as ever. 

" I was afraid to look straight down to the ground for fear of ver- 
tigo, but ventured to do so after some encouragement from Frank and 
Fred. As for mamma, she would not venture to look beneath her, but 
only studied the far-off horizon and the objects upon it. She looked 
once at the dome of the Invalides, but felt her head swimming and 
gave it up. Many persons are thus affected. 

" When I got so that I could look down I saw a funny sight. The 
people on the ground were like ants, with the exception that they were 
much shorter than those little insects. We could see a spot of black or 
some other color, and see that it was moving, and that is about all we 
could make out. Down 
on the Seine we watched 
the little steamboats mov- 
ing up and down the 
stream; they resembled 
caterpillars more than 
anything else, and so 
did the trains on the 
railways, though Frank 
thought the trains might 
be compared to centi- 
pedes or possibly to small 
snakes. But, no matter 
what we saw, we were 
all the time impressed 
with the fact that we 
were very small folks ourselves, and the world around us was very large. 

" The sun was warm up there, but the wind was cold ; when the sun 
was obscured by a cloud the temperature changed very suddenly, and it 
was like the contrast between early spring and full midsummer. When 




A FULL WINDOW. 



212 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




PARIS FROM THE FOURTH FLOOR. 



the little shower came, there was a strong gust of wind with it, and we 
could perceive very distinctly that the tower vibrated. Some of the 
people turned pale, as if they thought the tower was going to fall, or at 
all events was liable to do so. The custodian assured them that there 
was not the least danger ; that the tower was built to stand the strong- 
est wind that could blow, and was just as safe as the court-yard of the 
Hotel Drouot, or the auditorium of the Opera-house. 

" We lingered for some time, and wanted to go to the little platform 
beneath the lantern, but found that the place and the stairway leading 



A CONCERT IN THE AIR. 213 

to it were not open to the public. So we went back to the first plat- 
form, where we found what Frank had been talking about to the head 
waiter of the restaurant ; he had ordered dinner for us, and it was all 
ready to be served as soon as we were seated. 

" It was a dinner in the air, and very nice it was. Frank said the 
prices were as high as the place, but he was sure there would be no 
cause to complain of the ventilation, or the danger of drowning by a 
sudden overflow of the Seine. We had a seat by one of the windows ; 
and as we sat at table we looked out over the city, and could study it 
all the way from the soup to the dessert and coffee. In some respects 
the view is better than that from the upper story ; you can't see for so 
long a distance, but what you do bring into your range of vision is much 
more distinct, and you are certainly high enough. 

" There is a gallery all around the platform, and you might suppose 
that the people on it would constantly obstruct our view; but they 
did nothing of the sort, as the floor of the gallery is four or five feet 
lower than ours, and consequently we looked over the heads of all the 
promenaders, and had a clear range at all times. 

" We waited till the light of day faded out in the sky and the stars 
appeared one by one ; then the gas and electric lights shone below us, 
and what an hour before was a stretch of gray and red roofs seamed 
with streets and dotted with parks and squares, became a broad field of 
sparkling lamps whose number seemed to be millions. We could trace 
some of the streets and avenues by the lines of lamps, and altogether 
the scene was one long to be remembered. Then we listened to music, 
for they have a concert here in the evening, and the hour was well ad- 
vanced before, in travellers' parlance, we had ' done ' the Eiffel Tower 
and were ready to descend to the ground and go home. 

" And in conclusion let me say that the tower is not at all pretty ; 
and I wonder that a people so devoted to beauty and possessing so 
much taste as the French can be as proud as they are of this triumph 
of engineering art. It is great, it is a monument of ingenuity, but it is 
no more beautiful than a giraffe or a heap of stones in a field. It is the 
work of an engineer and not of an artist — the product of cold calcula- 
tion and not of sentiment, or a taste for beauty. 

" And speaking of sentiment reminds me that there seems to be a 
perfect mania on the part of visitors to write their names on the top of 
the tower. The scribblers attack the paint with pencils and sometimes 
with ink, and the managers have wisely placed sheets of paper in frames, 
the sheets being changed every day and kept for binding in an album. 



214 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



By the end of the day the sheets are covered with names of people from 
all parts of the world, and some of the writers indulge in comments, 
either sentimental or otherwise. One English or American writer to-day 
had, like Mr. Wegg, dropped into poetry, with the following result : 

" ' This is a lofty tower, 
The tallest of the tall ; 
And folks way down below ns — 
My gracious ! ain't they small ?' 

" This is a fair average of the fourth-story poetry of the Eiffel Tower, 
and I won't torture you with any more." 

On returning to their hotel our friends found a note from Mr. Jack- 
son, the American gentleman who had so kindly secured tickets for 
them to the public session of the French Academy, which was described 
in a previous chapter. Mr. Jackson said he had obtained permission to 
take them to the house of a Parisian lady of high literary distinction. 
Her salon would be held on the following evening, and he wished to 
know if they would be pleased to go. 





THE TOWER BY NIGHT. 



216 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

The invitation was accepted without delay, as Mrs. Bassett and 
Mary greatly desired to be introduced to a French salon, and to learn 
in what way it differed from an evening reception in any other civilized 
country. Mrs. Bassett was puzzled to understand why the French 
should call an evening party by the name of the place where it was 
given. Frank explained that it was the custom of the country, and this 
explanation was accepted as quite satisfactory, in view of the fact that 
there was no other conveniently at hand. 

Frank explained to his mother and sister that the French salon was 
a feature of society which had no exact counterpart in England or 
America. It had its beginning in the last century before the revolu- 
tion of 1789, and the salon of that time had almost always a political 
character. One writer has defined it as a sociable assemblage of per- 
sons of the same taste in the drawing-room of a sympathetic woman. 
Its purpose is to have some object of meeting other than the ordinary 
small-talk of an evening reception ; and the object may be political, 
literary, scientific, or artistic — anything that will bring cultivated peo- 
ple together, and enable them to pass the time so that it shall not be 
regarded as wasted, at least in theory. 

" Every famous woman of France in the past hundred years," said 
Frank, " has had her salon, and it was through it, in many instances, 
that she became famous. As every rule has its exceptions, there may 
have been celebrated women without salons, but the number is small. 
It is in the salon that women have exercised their power in politics, 
finance, art, and many other things for which Paris is renowned ; and 
more than one important movement in the political world has had its 
beginning in one of these feminine autocracies ; and every Frenchman 
of renown has been at one time or another the frequenter of a salon, 
and is supposed to have shaped his course to some extent, at any rate, 
in consequence of what he learned there. Even the great Napoleon 
patronized the salon of Madame Hamelin, Guizot was a regular attend- 
ant at the receptions of Madame De Lieven, and Thiers did not often 
miss the evenings when Princess Troubetskoi was ' at home.' 

"In later times," he continued, "there have been salons in great 
number, though the number of political ones, unless their feelings were 
imperial, was greatly restricted under the second empire, owing to the 
sharp eye which the Government kept on all assemblages that might be 
considered hostile to the existing Government. Politics could not be 
freely discussed, for the reason that nobody could tell who might be a 
spy or when the entire party might find itself carried away to prison. 



218 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

But in spite of the severity of the Government there were several salons 
where Republicans were in the habit of meeting, and there can be little 
doubt that in these assemblages were promulgated some of the ideas 
which resulted in the establishment of the present republic." 

A very readable account was written several years ago by Madame 
Edmond Adam relative to the formation of her salon. It was in the 
days of the second empire that she came to reside in Paris, and formed 
the acquaintance of the Countess d'Agoult. She was invited to attend 
the receptions of the countess, and there met several men who had al- 
ready gained prominence, or afterwards became prominent, in the polit- 
ical world. They were all opposed to the empire, and longed for the 
downfall of Napoleon III. ; some of them had refused to take the 
oath of allegiance to the empire, and some had taken it with more or 
less mental reserve as to their intentions of keeping it. In course of 
time Madame Adam began to gather some of her friends about her at 
dinner on Friday of each week, other friends were invited to drop in 
after the dinner, and in this way her salon was formed. It became a 
meeting-place for men of varying shades of opinion, but all agreed as to 
their opposition to the empire. When the republic came into existence 
the salon of this energetic woman was recognized as one of the forces 
that had brought about the change of Government. 

Madame Adam gives an interesting anecdote concerning her first 
meeting with Leon Gambetta, who afterwards became one of the lead- 
ing men of the republic, as most readers are aware. Her husband sug- 
gested that Gambetta should be invited to one of their Friday dinners, 
and a note of invitation was sent accordingly. Here is the lady's ac- 
count of his arrival and reception : 

" He imagined, as he afterwards told me, that he was coming to the 
table of a literary woman, a blue-stocking, and so he arrived dressed in 
one of those costumes that one wears in the morning for want of some- 
thing better. His coat was neither a frock-coat nor a jacket, but some- 
thing between a pilot -coat and an overcoat. As he was subject to 
bronchitis, he wore a check flannel shirt, on which he had pinned a white 
collar and cuffs, but the flannel was visible in certain places, and he push- 
ed back the recalcitrant folds with an ease that betrayed long habit. 

"Adam and our friends were all in evening-dress, and I in a decol- 
lete gala costume. Gambetta looked at us with amazement. Eugene 
Pelletan, who knew him, greeted him cordially, and then introduced the 
new-comer to me. Gambetta apologized for not having a dress-coat. 
* I never wear one,' he said, ' and if I had known — ' 



twin 



■ : • :; ' '■•■ %- : - i 5:ltllflttlSlfii 




MADAME EDMOND ADAM (JULIETTE LAMBER). 



220 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" ' You would not have come, monsieur. That is very unamiable on 
your part,' I replied, laughing, as he paused. 

" Pelletan, with his usual kindness, then said, ' Madame Adam pre- 
fers that her friends should not come to her house in evening-dress.' 

" However, the appearance of the room demonstrated the contrary. 
My old friend Jules de Lasteyrie, said to me, in a whisper, ' A frock- 
coat I can admit — yes ; but I cannot go as far as that? 

" It was Lasteyrie's arm which I should have taken to go in to din- 
ner, and I replied, 'And yet, my dear friend, the only way to rehabili- 
tate that at my table is to give it the best place. It is you whom I de- 
prive, but you will approve me, I'm sure.' 

" He put on his air of the grand gentleman that he was, and an- 
swered, ' You are quite right ; that is what must be done.' 

" I took Gambetta's arm, to his profound astonishment, and I placed 
him at table on my right hand, while Jules de Lasteyrie sat at my left. 

"Hardly had we taken our seats when Gambetta leaned towards 
me and whispered, ' Madame, you may be sure that I shall never for- 
get a lesson given in this manner.' 

"He had something of the grand nature in him. This place on 
my right hand Gambetta was destined to keep in my house." 



When Mr. Jackson called to accompany the party to the reception 
to which they were invited he found them all ready to start, though 
it was yet some minutes in advance of the time for departure. The 
interval was spent in conversation about the salons of Paris, and in 
the course of the conversation allusion was made to that of Madame 
Adam, and the lady's reception of Gambetta. 

" Her salon was at the height of its influence and power when Gam- 
betta was prominent in the affairs of the republic," said Mr. Jackson. 
" It was the place of meeting of many of those who had not failed to 
denounce the coup-d'etat as a crime, and who had the satisfaction of 
seeing its responsible head sent into exile, where he did not long sur- 
vive. After Gambetta's death it declined in importance, and ceased to 
be a resort of statesmen and politicians ; but it was not discontinued. 
Madame Adam had been, and still is, prominent in the literary world, 
and her salon is a resort of literary and artistic people whose sympa- 
thies are with the present Government — or, at all events, are not in fa- 
vor of a return of the empire. Some one has said that the society to be 
found there is as mixed as that in a biographical dictionary ; but this 



MADAME ADAM. 221 

condition of affairs cannot be helped. Where one keeps open house for 
distinguished people of all kinds in literature, art, science, or anything 
else, the assemblage cannot always be of the very best." 

" Please tell me something more about the lady," said Mary. " I 
feel an interest in knowing something more about her." 

" She was born at Verberie in 1836, and was married when quite 
young to a country notary, who seems to have been of very little con- 
sequence. She wrote some newspaper and magazine articles and pub- 
lished a book, and then came to Paris to earn her living by literature. 
She had a hard struggle at first, but finally attracted the attention of 
the leading Eepublicans. Her first husband died, and then she married 
Edmond Adam, a prominent Eepublican Avho had a considerable fort- 
une, which he left to her on his death in 1877. She has written a great 
deal for the magazines, has published several stories, and she founded 
La JVouvelle JRevice, which is one of the leading magazines of Paris. 
She finds time to edit this magazine, do her other literary work, and 
shine in society, though she is not as active as she was a few years ago. 
Formerly she allowed herself but five hours a day for rest, but her 
health broke down under the strain, and she is now more careful of 
herself. When she began her literary career she adopted the pen-name 
of 'Juliette Lamber,' and by that cognomen she is better known than 
by her own, especially in the world of literature. 

"It is time for us to go," said Mr. Jackson, as he glanced at the 
clock on the mantel; and in a very few minutes they were on their 
way to the reception. 



222 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

AN EVENING RECEPTION.— JULES SIMON AND OTHER MEN OF NOTE.— CONVERSA- 
TION AT THE SALON.— SOME FAMOUS SALONS.— DR. EVANS AND HIS HOUSE.— 
REMINISCENCES OF THE EMPRESS EUGENIE ; HER ESCAPE FROM PARIS.— A CHAT 
ABOUT THE EMPIRE AND THE NAPOLEONIC FAMILY.— A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 
COUP-D'fiTAT; HOW THE PLANS WERE LAID AND CARRIED OUT.— VICTOR 
HUGO AND OTHER EXILES.— IN THE GREAT SHOPS.— MARY'S ACCOUNT OF SHOP- 
PING.— A DISSERTATION ON FANS.— HOW A FRAUD WAS DETECTED.— EVOLUTION 
OF THE BONNET.— FASHIONS IN DIFFERENT YEARS.— BIRDS IN THE GARDENS.— 
THE " BIRD CHARMER." 



w 



E had a very agreeable and interesting evening at Madame 



salon," wrote Fred in his journal, " and met several gentlemen 
of distinction there. But it is proper to say that we did not have 

much conversation with the 
great men, as there was always 
a little knot of people about 
them engaging their attention. 
We could only look on at a 
distance and be satisfied with 
talking with lesser individuals." 
"One of the gentlemen we 
saw there was Jules Simon, who 
is a member of the Academy, 
and has occupied a prominent 
place in French politics for a 
great many years. He is an 
'advanced liberal,' so we are 
told, and the present republic 
owes much to him for his aid in 
shaping its policy during the 
first years of its existence. He 
is a life member of the French 
Senate, and takes an active 
jules simon. part in its debates ; and besides 




AT THE RECEPTION. 223 

his connection with politics, he has high rank as an author of books on 
various subjects. 

" In the course of the evening we were introduced to this gentle- 
man," Fred continued, " and he said some very complimentary things 
about the United States, and regretted that he had not time to make a 
visit to our country and travel through all parts of it, so that he might 
understand it better than he did at present. He chatted several min- 
utes with Mary, asking her what she liked best in France, and seeming 
very much pleased when she said she had been trying to discover some- 
thing to find fault with, but thus far had not been successful. The fact 
is, Frank and I are a little jealous of Mary because she takes attention 
away from us ; when she is present we generally have to stand in the 
background or wander by ourselves. 

" Another man whose name is well known, and whom we saw dur- 
ing the evening is Leon Say, an author and statesman whose politics are 
as Republican as those of M. Simon ; he is an author and journalist of 
distinction, has been Minister of Finance, and was chosen President of 
the Senate in 1880. He edited the Journal des Debats for a long time, 
and is said to write a good deal for it now. Then we saw the Yicomte 
de Yogiie, Ludovic Halevy, and some other literary and musical gen- 
tlemen whose names I have forgotten. Jules Claretie, the director of 
the Comedie Francaise, ran in for a few minutes only. One of the feat- 
ures of a Parisian salon is that you are at liberty to come and go as you 
like; probably the hostess would prefer that her visitors should stay 
through the evening, but many of them have several calls to make, and 
they divide their time as best they can. 

" The visitors talked about art, politics, music, drama, anything and 
everything that happened to come up at the time, and there was a buzz 
of conversation all over the large parlor and in two smaller parlors or 
alcoves at opposite sides. The walls of the parlor were hung with pict- 
ures that showed the excellent taste with which they were selected, and 
there were vases of flowers on the tables and a liberal amount of bric-a- 
brac all around. The chairs and sofas were ranged close to the wall 
and around the tables. Most of the gentlemen stood for the greater 
part of the evening, as there were so many ladies present that they re- 
quired the most of the seats in the parlors. 

" Mr. Jackson told us that if we could make the rounds of all the 
salons of Paris we should see a great variety of furniture and decora- 
tion. Some of the salons of the old aristocracy are rich in imperial and 
royal souvenirs. One salon is fitted throughout in Turkish style, with 



224 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




A CORNER IN A SALON. 



cushions and material direct from the East ; and there can be no mistake 
about them, as they were sent to the hostess by Abd-el-Kader, who was 
a frequenter of this salon when he lived in Paris. The apartment of 
one wealthy lady who receives her friends on Thursdays contains fur- 
niture from nearly every country in the world, arranged in different 
rooms. One room is French, another English, another Turkish, another 
Chinese or Japanese ; there used to be a German room, but the furni- 
ture was removed during the war of 1870, and some antique pieces from 
Holland and Italy were put in its place. Germany is so unpopular 
here that nothing from that country will be tolerated. We have found 
it judicious to say as little as possible about it — in fact, we do not say 
that we ever heard of Allemagne, unless the question is propounded 
directly and cannot be evaded. 

" So much for French society. We must not forget a visit to the 
house of Dr. Evans, the famous American dentist, Avho has lived for 
many years in Paris, and looked into more imperial, royal, princely, and 
grand-ducal mouths than any other man that ever lived. He has ac- 



A FUGITIVE EMPRESS. 225 

cumulated a large fortune, and his house is one of the finest in this city 
of fine houses. Mrs. Evans has a weekly reception, and we went there 
on her invitation. The house contains a great many choice paintings 
and other works of art, and there is a very interesting collection of sou- 
venirs, which the doctor has received from his imperial and royal pa- 
tients. The doctor is a great lover of birds, and I'm sure I never saw 
such a fine collection of winged pets anywhere outside of a public me- 
nagerie, and I have some doubt if there is any menagerie which contains 
as many. Some of his birds are very rare. 

" Mrs. Evans showed to mamma and Mary the bonnet which the 
Empress Eugenie wore on the occasion of her flight from Paris. Dr. 
Evans had a close personal acquaintance with the Emperor and Empress, 
and on the night of September 4th, when the downfall of the empire 
was proclaimed, the mob took possession of the Palace of the Tuileries, 
and the life of the Empress was in danger. She escaped to a carriage, 
and was driven to this very house. Dr. Evans was at dinner with some 
friends, and in the midst of the dinner a servant came to say that a lady 
had called who would not give her name, but insisted upon seeing the 
doctor immediately. At first he refused to go; then suspecting that 
it might be some one who had come to seek protection from the mob, 
he excused himself and left the table. When he met the lady she 
raised her veil, and he saw it was the Empress, greatly agitated and with 
her stately face covered with tears. 

" It was indeed a fugitive, who sought his protection from the mob. 
When she left the Tuileries she was escorted to a carriage by an Italian 
gentleman, the Chevalier Nigra. Just as she stepped into the carriage 
a street urchin recognized her and shouted, Voila VImperatrice ! 

"The chevalier boxed his ears and said, 'You little rascal, what do 
mean by shouting, Vive la Prusse V The crowd joined in the assault 
upon the boy, and before the urchin could open his mouth and explain 
whom he saw and what he said, the carriage had disappeared in the dis- 
tance and was on its way to Dr. Evans's house. There the Empress ex- 
changed her bonnet for one belonging to Mrs. Evans, and made other 
alterations in her attire so as to prevent recognition. The doctor ac- 
companied her in her flight from Paris, and, as all the world knows, she 
reached England, whither Louis Philippe, King of France, had fled in 
much the same way thirty and more years before across the Channel, 
to seek an asylum, as she did, under the British flag. 

" You might think that the Republican rulers of France would be 
very unfriendly to Dr. Evans for his part in helping the Empress to es- 

15 



226 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

cape, but such is not the case. They regarded his action as that of a 
personal friend and not a politician, as he has never meddled in any way 
with French politics. No sensible man among them wished the Empress 
to fall into the hands of the mob, no matter how much he disliked the 
empire. And then, too, Dr. Evans had been very active in the work of 
the Reel Cross Society for relieving the wounded and suffering soldiers, 
and had spent a great deal of money out of his own pocket in the 
society's work. He organized an ambulance corps, which saved many a 
life. The French officials recognized his valuable services, and he now 
holds the same popularity in Paris that he held during the days of the 
empire, and is on the best of terms with the Government." 

"When Fred read from his journal the foregoing entry, it naturally 
led to questions by Mrs. Bassett and Mary regarding the empire that 
preceded the present republic. Mrs. Bassett remarked that it seemed 
to her the Bonaparte family was one of the most warlike that she had 
ever read about — at least, in modern times. 

" It has certainly been the most inclined to war of any family of 
this century," Frank replied, " and there is a very singular circumstance 
connected with it which may have escaped you." 

" What is that ?" 

" It is that not a single one of all the family has died on the battle- 
field, with the possible exception of Prince Louis, the son of Louis Na- 
poleon, whose official title was Napoleon IT." 

" Yes," said Mary, " that is true ; and not one of them has died while 
in power. Napoleon I. died a prisoner in the hands of the English ; 
Napoleon III. was an exile on English soil at the time of his death ; and 
as for the second and fourth Napoleons, they had never ruled at all and 
died away from France ; and the only one to lose his life by violence 
was the little Prince Louis, who was speared in Africa by savage 
Zulus while on a scouting expedition." 

" I wish you would tell me about the coup-d? etat, when Louis Napo- 
leon came into power," said Mrs. Bassett. " I was trying to find some- 
thing about it to-day but couldn't, and so must rely on you." 

" It's a long story or a short one, as you choose to make it," replied 
Fred. " I'll try to make it brief." 

" I'm ready to listen, too," said Mary. 

" Well, then," said Fred, " you know there was a revolution in 1848, 
in which the King, Louis Philippe, was driven from the throne, and with 
his whole family fled to England for safety." 

" Yes, I know all that," said Mary, " and more, too. I know a pro- 




EUGENIE, EX-EMPRESS OF FRANCE. 



228 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



visional government was formed, and that very soon it had lots of trou- 
ble on its hands. The members quarrelled among themselves, and there 
was a good deal of bloodshed in Paris ; then a National Assembly was 
called together, and it chose Louis Napoleon President of the Republic. 




POLICE CLEARING THE BOULEVARDS AT NIGHT. 



Yery soon he was at odds with the National Assembly, and manifested 
a desire to have things to his own liking. He thought that a good way 
to silence one's enemies is to get them out of the way, and that's what 
he proceeded to do without much delay." 
" Now you are coming to the coup-d '"etatP 
" Yes ; but you can tell about it better than I can." 
" Well, then," said Fred, " Louis Napoleon laid his plans for a grand 
stroke ; and as it was a matter of policy, it has justly been called from 
that day to this the coup-d 'etat (stroke of policy). 

" The plans were laid by Napoleon and his three most trusted 
friends — Count Moray, General St. Arnaud, and the Prefect of Police, 
M. Maupas. Troops were put around the Government Printing-office 
on the night of December 1, 1851, and several proclamations were 



THE COUP-B'UTAT. 



229 



printed and made ready for distribution. Early in the morning of De- 
cember 2d sixteen of the most active members of the National Assem- 
bly, and more than a hundred other individuals who were active oppo- 
nents of the President and his policy, were arrested in their beds and 
lodged in prison before breakfast-time. Troops surrounded the hall of 
the Assembly and occupied all the prominent streets and squares of 
Paris, and then the proclamations appeared, announcing that the Assem- 
bly was dissolved, certain laws objectionable to the President were sus- 
jjended, and a new election for the Assembly was ordered on December 
14th. A new constitution was proposed, by which the term of the Pres- 
ident should be extended to ten years, and as the whole power of the 
Government was in the hands of the President he had things his own 
way. Less than a year later he had another election, which made him 
Emperor for life, 
with power to 
regulate the suc- 
cession in his own 
family, and he 
made his solemn 
entry as Emperor 
on December 2, 
1852." 

Mrs. Bassett 
asked if there 
was a great deal 
of bloodshed at 
the time of the 
coup-d'etat. 

Frank ex- 
plained that the 
measures of Lou- | 
is Napoleon were 
so carefully tak- 
en that there was 
no opportunity 
for any serious ) xr < y 

opposition. Near- 
ly all the men 
who could have 

led in resistance the late prince imperial, napoleon rv. 




■ 



230 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



had been lodged in jail ; there were a few attempts on the part of ex- 
cited individuals, but they were met by charges of police and soldiery, 
who swept through the streets and fired upon all groups of people that 




VICTOR HUGO AND HIS GRANDCHILDREN. 



they saw. Many innocent spectators were shot down, people were 
killed at their windows, and altogether it is said that not far from 
two thousand lives were sacrificed. Several times during December 
2d, 3d, and 4th the troops or police went along the principal boule. 
vards and streets, and everybody who did not get out of the way was 
liable to be killed. These movements were kept up by night as well 
as by day, the object being to terrorize the entire population into sub- 
mission and prevent anything like resistance. 



SHOPPING IN PARIS. 231 

" "What became of the men who were arrested on the night of De- 
cember 1st ?" Mrs. Bassett asked, after a brief pause. 

" Some of them were liberated the next day or in a few days, when 
their power for active opposition was gone ; others were sent or volun- 
tarily went into exile. Among them was Yictor Hugo, who lived in 
the island of Guernsey until the fall of the empire and the re-establish- 
ment of the republic, when he returned to Paris. Here he lived and 
received the homage of his admirers until his death in 1885." 

Conversation now turned upon Victor Hugo and his work. Mary 
reminded her mother of their interest in " Hernani," which they had 
seen on the evening of their visit to the Comedie Frangaise. Frank said 
that " Hernani" was acted as early as 1830, and was one of many plays 
that owe their existence to this celebrated author. One of his latest 
stories is entitled The Art of Being a Grandfather, and one portrait of 
Yictor Hugo represents him with two of his grandchildren on his knees. 
He is said to have been very fond of children, and whenever his birth- 
day came around, all the children in his neighborhood came in proces- 
sion to congratulate him and themselves that he had lived so long. 

On the day following the evening at Madame 's salon Frank 

intimated to the rest of the party that they must shortly continue their 
journey, as they had seen the greater part of the sights of Paris, and, 
furthermore, their time was limited. 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary expressed their willingness to move on when- 
ever desired, but at the same time they intimated that their shopping 
was not complete, and they wished to be indulged a little longer. 

" It's the best place in the world for shopping," said Mrs. Bassett, by 
way of explanation. " The French have better taste than any other 
people in the world, and the assortment of things in the great shops 
are practically endless. I don't think I could ever get tired of shop- 
ping in Paris — well, yes, I might after a time, especially if my purse 
should become empty. You can't do much buying without money, 
but as long as you have it there will always be something that you 
want and feel that you must have." 

Mary echoed her mother's opinion, and we can imagine that most 
American women, whatever their age, who have been in Paris will 
agree with our fair tourists on the subject of shopping. 

Mrs. Bassett was warm in her praise of the French system of assem- 
bling a great variety of merchandise under one roof. " The best way 
to shop here," said she, " is to make out a list of what you want, and 
then go to the Bon Marche, or some other store of that sort, and begin 



232 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



your purchases. You may not find all that you desire, but you will 
come very near doing so if you are not too particular." 

" The French system has been adopted to some extent in several 
cities of America, has it not ?" queried Frank. 

" Yes ; in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago they have establish- 




FAN IN TIME OF LOUIS XIV. 



ments on this plan," was the reply, " but I know of only one that can 
hold anj^thing like a close comparison with the Bon Marche. Probably 
we shall arrive at the same point in time, and it will be a blessing to the 
American public, especially the women, when we do." 

Exactly how many trunks were filled with good things from Paris 
on behalf of Mrs. Bassett and her daughter we will not pretend to say. 
The trunks were duly packed and stored, so that they could be shipped 
as might be desired ; and when this duty had been disposed of our friends 
were ready to continue their journey. 

" What did they buy ?" some inquisitive reader may ask. 

They bought all sorts of articles of feminine wear — dresses, shawls, 
bonnets, gloves, hosiery, and we can't say what else. The reader may 
look at the catalogue of any well-conducted shop, and then suppose that 
each article on the list received due attention. They bought a goodly 
number of souvenirs for friends at home, and their selections in this line 
were numerous and of great variety. 

Mary had a fondness for fans, which she said were always acceptable, 
whether they cost a great deal of money or only a modest sum. " I have 



A CELEBRATED FAN. 233 

been studying the history of fans," she wrote in her journal, " and have 
learned some very interesting things about the fan in France. 

" For instance 2 " she continued, " I have learned that there was a fan 
which belonged to Madame de Pompadour, and is still in existence. It 
cost nine years of labor to make it, and a good deal of money was ex- 
pended upon it in addition to the time — one writer says £6000, or 
$30,000. It was painted by hand, and the artist was one of the best of 
his time. It was made out of paper cut to imitate lace, and the paintings 
were in medallions so fine that a magnifying-glass is needed to show all 
their details. I'm not buying any fans of that sort, and have not seen 
any that are worth a tenth, or even a twentieth, part of the price which 
must have been asked for such a work of art as that was. 

" I find that the fan had its highest development in the time of Louis 
XI V., when hand-painted fans costing a great deal of money were all 
the rage. The best of the old French fans belong to that period. One 
was offered to us a few days ago for $500, and if we had been willing to 
pay $450 I think we could have obtained it. A gentleman who is famil- 
iar with the fan trade tells us we must be very careful, because many 
modern fans are being palmed off as antiques. 

" I heard a very good story about an attempt of a counterfeiter of fans 
to deceive a would-be purchaser. But before giving you the story I 
must tell you some of the technical terms connected with a fan, which is 
made up of two parts, the ' stick ' and the ' mount.' You can understand 
what the sticks are without further explanation. The mount is the part 
on which the paintings are made, and it may be of cloth, paper, leather 
or any other flexible substance of similar character. The outside sticks, 




FAN OK LOUIS XV. PERIOD. 



234 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

thicker than the others, are called ' guards,' and when we say a fan is 
composed of a certain number of sticks we do not include the guards. 
The point where the mount ceases, and leaves the sticks bare down to 




BRIDAL FAN BY WATTEAU. (1709.) 

the pin which holds them together, is called the ' shoulder.' Please re- 
member these things, for I shall probably have occasion to use them all. 

" Fashions change in fans just as in bonnets or dresses. Sometimes 
the shoulder is very low and the mount correspondingly deep. This was 
the case in the time of Louis XI Y., when the number of sticks varied 
from eighteen up to twenty-one, and if a fan had more or less than that 
number it was not fashionable. Fans of that epoch opened out to a full 
half -circle. In the time of Louis XY. the number of sticks was increased 
to a possible twenty-two, the depth of the mount diminished, the sticks 
were narrower, and the fan did not open to a full half-circle. You see 
what fashion can do in this as in other things ! 

" The style of painting was different in different epochs. At one 
time landscapes and groups of many figures were all the rage, while at 
another the painting sought for was in medallions, either of individuals 
or of small groups. In the reign of one king a fan came into fashion 
which had no mount at all, the sticks being extended and broadened, 
and the painting was made on their surfaces, so that when opened out 



SOMETHING ABOUT FANS. 



235 



the edges of the pictures on the sticks matched exactly. These fans 
were smaller than the other kind, and at one time they were so small 
that they could be carried easily in an ordinary pocket. And now for 
my story about the fan counterfeiter : 

"An American lady who wanted an antique fan and was willing to 
pay a high price for it found what she thought she wanted in a shop on 
the Rue de la Paix. The dealer asked 5000 francs ($1000) for it, and 
declared by all the great words he knew that it was as genuine as genu- 
ine could be. But she had the good sense to know there was a possibility 
of her being cheated, and so she called in a friend who had made a study 
of the fan and all its peculiarities. 

" The friend examined the fan very carefully, and then the two ladies 
left the shop. The dealer wished to close the transaction at once, and 
offered to reduce the price provided the money were paid on the spot, as 
he ' had a note to meet at the bank.' But the friend shook her head, 
and the purchase was not made. 

" ' That is an outrageous deception/ said the expert, as they walked 




AN AUTOGRAPH FAN. 



away from the shop in the direction of the Place Vendome ; ' and one of 
the mean features about it is its boldness in defying all the facts of his- 
tory. The stick, the mount, and the painting belong to three different 



236 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



epochs, and together they cover a period of more than a hundred years. 
The real fact is that the fan is of modern make. It is worth, perhaps, 
$10, or, at furthest, $20. You will probably get it by offering $10, and 
slowly rising to $20, but refusing to give more.' 

" The lady did not again visit the shop, but as a matter of curiosity 
she sent an American gentleman there, describing the fan to him, so that 
he could make no mistake. He looked at the fan, and without asking 
the price offered 50 francs ($10) for it. The dealer manifested no sur- 
prise, but said he could not think of selling the fan for less than 100 
francs. It was bought at that price, and seems to me to be well worth 
it, as it is certainly hand-painted, and by an artist of no mean ability." 

Mary discoursed quite learnedly on the subject of fans, but we have 
not sufficient space to repeat all that she said. Among other things, she 
noted that the recently-invented fashion of autograph fans is really an 
old one brought from China. When Pekin was captured by the English 
and French more than thirty years ago, and the summer palace was 
looted and burned, a great many fans were secured by the plunderers of 
the imperial abode. A large proportion of them were of ivory or paper, 
made to fold just like the French fan that has been described. Gentle- 
men carry fans in China, and it was the custom for one gentleman to 
open his fan and beg his friend to write his autograph or indite a sen- 
tence that should form a souvenir. The fans secured at the summer 
palace of Pekin, and afterwards sold in London and Paris, were of this 

sort, and were said to have belonged to the 
emperors and empresses of that distant part 
of the world. 

From fans to bonnets was an easy step, 
and Mary showed her ability to talk as in- 
telligently about the latter subject as the 
former and with no more hesitation. 

" Of course we have bought new bon- 
nets since we came to Paris, and our old 
ones are laid aside to be resumed when we 
feel like putting them on. They are not 
exactly out of fashion, but somehow they 
are not what one wants when in Paris. 
You know that this city leads the fash- 
ions, and it generally keeps them a little 
while before the rest of the world gets 
1 ' 78 ' 7 - them. I've been told that when a new 




BONNETS OF DIFFERENT PERIODS. 



237 




1795. 



style comes out all the old stocks on hand are sent to the provinces, 
where they find a ready market. The provincial dealers work them off 
on their non-travelling customers, and they can declare truthfully that 
the styles they have are the latest from Paris — certainly the latest they 
have received. 

" The milliners in New York follow Paris very 
closely — much more so than do the provincial deal- 
ers throughout France. The reason is plain : there 
are many women coming here from New York 
every season and going home with the latest styles. 
Consequently, the milliners in America couldn't im- 
pose on their customers if they wanted to, and I 
don't suppose they desire to do anything of the 
kind. Suppose Mrs. A., who hasn't been abroad 
this year, should buy a new bonnet of Madame X., 
on the assurance that it is the latest style from 
Paris. Next day Mrs. A. calls on Mrs. B., who has 
just returned from abroad, and you may be sure 
they have something to discuss in the way of fash- 
ions. If Mrs. A.'s bonnet should be behind the 
times Mrs. B. will surely let her know it ; Mrs. A. 
feels that she has been the victim of a fraud, and never again will she 
patronize Madame X. or allow any friend of hers to do so. Thus it is 
that the milliners of New York are compelled to keep the latest fashions 
and get rid of their old stock by sending it to the backwoods for a 
market, or giving it away to the poor. 

" I'm not going to take up your time with a description of the new 
styles of bonnets for this year, as you can get it all in a fashion paper, 
and much better than I can tell it. What I am going to do is to say 
something about a collection of bonnets that we 
saw yesterday showing the fashions for a whole cen- 
tury, and what changes have come over them from 
time to time. Just look at them and see how funny 
they are. 

" Here's a bonnet of 1787. Would you be will- 
ing to put it on and walk on a pleasant afternoon 
along Fifth Avenue, from Madison Square to Cen- 
tral Park? What an excitement there would be, 
and how the small boys would run after you ! But 
I've no doubt the women of that year were quite 1803. 




238 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




V 1 * 



1820. 



vain of their head-coverings, and some of them 
looked very pretty under all that mass that ap- 
pears as though it were depressingly heavy. 

"In 1795 they wore a bonnet that suggests 
the ' coal-scuttle ' of more recent times ; in fact, 
the bonnets seem to have been revived on several 
occasions after sufficient time had passed to al- 
low them to be forgotten. The bonnet of 1803 
is quite suggestive of that of 1881, while that 
of 1864 could easily have been made over from 
the bonnet of 1820. Those of 1856 and 1877, twenty-one years apart, 
are suggestive of one another, though the later bonnet is much higher 
on the top than its predecessor. Then, too, the 
bonnet of 1813 was suggestive of the one I have 
already mentioned as worn in 1787; both of 
them were very large and ornamented with 
plumes, which must have been very expensive in 
those times when feathers were high priced. 

" Plumes have been in fashion at different 
times, disappearing altogether for a while, only 
to come into vogue again. Stuffed birds were 
not worn until comparatively recent times ; and 
it is to be hoped that they will never be worn 

again. If every woman would stop and think, before she buys a bon- 
net with a bird upon it, that an innocent creature has been killed for 
the gratification of her vanity, I'm sure she would choose something else 
that would look just as well. Plumes are all well 
enough, as the ostrich is not harmed or made to 
suffer any pain when they are taken from him. 

"And speaking of birds," continued Mary, 
"reminds me that we have had a great deal of 
sport with the birds of Paris. It isn't what some 
people call ' sport,' going with a gun to shoot the 
innocent and harmless creatures, but taking food 
to them and watching them while they eat. Quite 
often we have gone into the garden of the Tui- 
leries, or whatever park or garden was nearest 
to where we took our breakfast, and carried some 
bread along to give to the birds. They very 
soon came to know us, and as we entered the 




1856. 




1864. 



IN THE GARDEN OF THE TUILERIES. 



239 




1811. 



for other nations. 



gate they would come fluttering around us, and almost lighting on 
our heads and shoulders. We crumbled the bread up into very small 
pieces ; then when we tossed a handful of the crumbs into the air it was 
fun to see them jump for it. Some of the sparrows were so tame that 
they would snatch a crumb from my fingers or off the palm of my 
hand, but most of them were a little too shy for 
so much familiarity. 

"Do you know the reason why the birds are 
so tame ? Well, it is because nobody harms them, 
or threatens to do so. A French boy never seems 
to think that Nature intended birds as targets for 
him to throw stones at, as the English or Ameri- 
can boy usually does. Frank and Fred say the im- 
pulse of the American or English boy when he sees 
a bird is to look around for a stone to throw at it, 
just as the average Englishman's idea of sport is 
to kill something. The French are sanguinary 
enough when they go to war or indulge in revolu- 
tions, but in the works of peace they are models 
There are Frenchmen who go on shooting excur- 
sions, it is true, but their number is very small in comparison with the 
same class of men in England. Game is carefully preserved in France, 
and when the hunting season begins the hares 
and pheasants are so tame that they can almost 
be knocked down with sticks. 

" One day, while we were feeding the birds in 
the Garden of the Tuileries, they suddenly flew 
away from us in the direction of a man who was 
coming through the gate near by. There was a 
cloud of birds all about him ; his head was sur- 
rounded by birds just as close to him as flies and 
mosquitoes will get close to us in their season, and 
they twittered with delight as they welcomed him 
into the garden. Frank says the man has been 
famous for years as ' the bird charmer.' Why the 
birds are so fond of him no one can exactly tell ; 
but of one thing you may be sure, he treats them kindly. He always 
brings food for them, has never harmed them in any way, and they 
show their confidence by lighting upon him and crowding upon the 
bench where he sits. Perhaps they would be just as fond of us in 




1881. 



240 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



time, but we can never determine this question, as we are going away 
from Paris before noon to-morrow. 

" JSTone of us like the idea of leaving this great city, and we would 
gladly stay longer if we could frame a reasonable excuse for doing so. 
The memory of Paris will always be a pleasant one ; the city is so bright, 
so clean, so well built, and so attractive in every way, I don't wonder a 
bit that Parisians are so fond of it and rarely want to go anywhere else. 
Neither do I wonder that so many foreigners are fascinated by it, and 
I can readily understand, what Frank tells me about, the case of an 
American who came to Europe to spend a year and remained in Paris 
for eleven months of the time. Mamma says she wouldn't have blamed 
him if he had completed his year here and left the rest of the Continent 
for another journey." 




A PAIR OF FRENCH SPARROWS. 



GOOD-BYE TO PARIS. 



241 



CHAPTEK XIV. 



FROM PARIS TO DIJON.— A MISUNDERSTANDING.— RAILWAY TRAVEL IN FRANCE.— 
ARRANGEMENTS FOR DINING. — DINNER ON THE TRAIN.— DIJON; ITS INTER- 
ESTING FEATURES. — THE BURGUNDY DISTRICT. — ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. — A 
KITCHEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES.— LYONS. —THE SILK- WEAVING INDUSTRY— 
JACQUARD AND HIS INVENTION. — HEIGHTS OF FOURVIERES.— VIEW OF THE 
RHONE AND SAONE.— CHILDREN'S SAVINGS-BANKS.— SIGHTS OF LYONS.— VISIT 
TO A SILK ESTABLISHMENT.— CASTLES OF THE RHONE.— STEAMER VERSUS 
RAILWAY— AIX-LES-BAINS ; WHAT OUR FRIENDS SAW THERE.— GORGE OF 
THE RHONE, AND MARY'S THOUGHTS THEREON— ARRIVAL AT GENEVA. 

IN" leaving Paris our friends had a narrow escape from missing their 
train. Frank had told the driver to take them to the Lyons rail- 
way station {Gave de Lyon), but the driver 
understood him to say " Gave oV Orleans" or 
the station for Orleans. In French the two 
phrases sound very nearly alike, and the mis- 
take is not at all infrequent. Frank perceived 
the driver's error early enough to correct it 
and reach the station of the Lyons line in 
good season. Mrs. Bassett remarked that it 
was another instance of the advantages of the 
promptness which they practised in all their 
travels since leaving home. 

Exactly to the second of the advertised 
time the train rolled out of the station, and, 
after passing the fortifications of the city, 
took a general direction to the south. The 
Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway 
(Chemin de Fer de Paris d Lyon et a la M'edi- 
terranee) is the largest railway corporation in 
France, and its range includes the greater part 
of the region south of Paris. The company 
also manages the railways of Algeria, and in 
the territories that it serves it exercises a vast 

16 




STATUE OF MOSES, DIJON. 



242 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



influence upon commerce. Men skilled in railway management have 
unhesitatingly pronounced this line one of the best in the world, and 

certainly it is, by all odds, the best in France. 
" I do not know a railway line anywhere," 
wrote Fred in his journal, "where there is 
more attention to details than here. You 
cannot go astray, no matter how careless you 
may be, and if there is any point on which 
you desire information it is always at hand. 
Rules to cover every question that may arise 
are carefully laid down. As long as you keep 
within the rules your path will be as smooth 
as you could possibly wish ; and if you try to 
go outside of them you will have to climb a 
very high fence before getting there. 

"As an instance of their attention to de- 
tail, let me tell you about the dinner we took 
at one of the stations to-day. 

" An hour before we arrived at the dining 
point one of the guards asked us how many 
there would be of our party for dinner. We 
told him we were four, and he then touched 
his cap and departed. There were several 
parties of four, five, six, or more, and when 
they reached the dining station the tables 
were all ready for them, the order having been sent by telegraph. ¥e 
were shown to a table for four ; the soup was steaming in the plates 
before us, having been placed on the table just as the train came to a 
halt. All the other tables were equally ready. 

" The meal consisted of five courses, and each course was brought 
before we had finished with the one that preceded it. By the side of 
each plate there were four half-bottles of wine, two white wines and 
two red ones, and the name and price of each wine was distinctly 
marked on its bottle in very large figures. 

" There were forty or fifty travellers in parties like our own, and 
not fewer than a hundred and fifty who took seats at long tables not 
unlike the eating-counters on American railways. At the side of each 
plate were the wines as at our own plates. On the wall at the end of 
the room, high up in the air and in letters so large that Mary said a 
blind man might almost read them, was indicated the price of the meal. 




STATUE OF JEREMIAH. 



FRENCH RAILWAYS. 243 

" As soon as the meal was fairly begun, attendants proceeded along 
the tables to collect from each one the price of his refreshment. Old 
travellers provided for this by placing their money on the table as soon 
as they sat down. The price of the meal was four francs (eighty cents), 
and if a man helped himself to any one of the wines on which the price 
was marked the collector could discover that fact at a glance. He had 
no occasion to ask a question, nor did the patron have occasion to ex- 
plain anything or seek any explanation. 

" You may think it possible for a dishonest man to help himself to 
some of the wines after the collector has passed along, and thereby 
cheat the establishment. This contingency is met by the collector, who 
moved the untouched bottles to the centre of the table ; he thus indi- 
cated that settlement had been made, and the wines were no longer at 
the option of the customer. He must needs be a brave man as well as 
dishonest who would help himself to the wines after that. 

" For those who cannot afford the meal at the price charged in the 
room where we dined there is what an American would call a ' sand- 
wich counter.' Here the traveller of shallow purse may satisfy his 
hunger, and he can get a great deal for a very little money. The com- 
pany exercises a careful supervision over the feeding department of the 
line; the quality of the food served is good and the quantity liberal, 
and the time allowed for meals is sufficient for any ordinary appetite." 

On another occasion our friends ordered their dinner to be served in 
the train. Train service of meals is performed in this wise : 

An hour or two before reaching what we may call the supply sta- 
tion a telegram is sent ahead, saying for how many and in what car- 
riage of the train, every carriage being conspicuously numbered on the 
side. When the train stops at that station a servant brings a basket to 
the place indicated, collects the money required for it, and departs. 
The travellers proceed to open the basket, and find within it a complete 
service for their party and everything that has been ordered. Plates, 
knives, forks, spoons, cups, glasses, napkins, all are there, and with them 
all the edible and drinkable things comprised in the order. As the 
train moves on the meal may be eaten at leisure ; when it is ended the 
basket and its contents may be handed to the conductor or one of the 
guards as the train stops at a station. This mode of dining is satis- 
factory in many ways, far more so than eating hurriedly at the station, 
while the disadvantages are those which pertain to the picnic or the 
out-door meal in general all over the world. 

The first stop of our friends was at Dijon, the ancient capital of 



244 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Burgundy, and now the chief town of the Department of the Cote-d'Or. 
It is in the famous Burgundy wine district of France, and its trade in 
that famous beverage is one of great importance. 

" We are more interested in the antiquities of the city and its gen- 
eral features than in its wine trade," said Frank to the manager of the 
hotel, who wished to introduce the strangers to a wine-merchant. The 
manager bowed and retired, after giving the brief explanation that 
" most people who come to Dijon wish to purchase wines, and we want 
to make sure that our customers fall into good hands." Exactly what 
he meant by " good hands " he did not say, but he probably regarded 
most favorably the wine-merchant who allowed the largest commission 
upon the purchases that the manager turned in his direction. 




OUR MOTIVE POWER. 



" Dijon is not a large city," said Frank, in reply to a question by 
Mrs. Bassett, " as it has only about fifty thousand inhabitants ; but it is 
an old and interesting one, as history will tell you." 

" How old is it ?" 

" Well, it dates from the time of the Romans, and its ancient name 
was Dibio. It came into possession of the Burgundians in the fifth 
century, and in the eleventh it was united with the Duchy of Bur- 
gundy, of which it became the capital." 

" Then it ought to have a palace of the dukes, and of course it has 
a cathedral, and probably an old one." 

"Yes, it has them both, and they are well preserved. The ducal pal- 



DIJON AND ITS ANTIQUITIES. 



245 



ace is now the City Hall, and it contains a fine museum filled with mon- 
uments of the Middle Ages, and a library of old books and manuscripts 
that would make the lips of an antiquarian quiver with delight. As 
soon as you are ready we will start on a 
round of sight-seeing." 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary were ready on the 
instant, and Fred stood with hat in hand. 
Needless to say that the promised sights 
were seen very speedily, and then a drive was 
taken through the city and around its imme- 
diate suburbs. Fred noted the circumstance 
that Dijon is a strongly fortified place, the 
old fortifications having been supplemented 
by some of recent construction ; the city was 
captured by the Germans in 1870 after some 
hard fighting, and a monument to the de- 
fenders has been erected near one of the prin- 
cipal gates in the old walls. 

We have not space to enumerate all the 
statues, paintings, and monuments which our 
friends saw in the museum and in the cathe- 
dral, and other ancient buildings. One thing 
that greatly interested Mrs. Bassett was the 
kitchen of the dukes of Burgundy, which was 
cleared out and repaired a few years ago. 

She thought that the dukes must have had large households, if one 
could judge by the size of their kitchen, which is about fifty feet 
square and contains six large, chimneys. The sides converge into a 
tall shaft, which is intended to carry off the fumes of the cooking along 
with the smoke and keep the air of the place pure. 

"Evidently they didn't have cooking ranges in the days of the 
dukes," she remarked, while standing before the great chimneys with 
their broad fireplaces and heavy brickwork. 

"Evidently not," replied Frank. " Their meats were roasted in front 
of the fires, and their stews were made in great pots, so that their cook- 
ing was done on the wholesale plan. The bill of fare must have been 
simpler than the French menu of to-day, for the reason that there were 
no facilities for preparing the numerous small dishes for which the mod- 
ern French cook is famous all over the world." 

From Dijon the train was taken for Lyons, Mrs. Bassett and Mary 




PHILIP THE GOOD, DUKE OP 
BURGUNDY. 



246 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



being specially desirous of seeing the place which has long been famous 
for its manufacture of silks for dresses and other uses. They wanted to 
see some of the large manufactories, and were considerably disappointed, 
on their arrival at Lyons, when told that there were none in existence. 

"How is that?" queried Mrs. Bassett. "Lyons is famous for its 
manufacture of silk, and yet you say there are no silk factories here." 

" No ; the silks are woven in the houses of the workmen and not in 
factories. Some workmen have only single looms, while others have 
several looms, which are run by members of the family or by men hired 
for the work. They obtain the materials for weaving from the estab- 
lishments where the finished silk is carried for inspection. "We can find 
houses occupied by twenty or thirty families, or even a greater number ; 
each family will have its looms for weaving, and this is the nearest ap- 
proach we can find to a great factory." 

" Well, then," said Mrs. Bassett, " we will try to see a loom or two, 
and then go to one of the places where the finished silk is sold. I want 
to buy enough for two or three dresses, perhaps half a dozen. It will 
not be better than what I could buy in Paris or JSTew York, but those 
to whom I give it will prize it more when they know it was bought in 

Lyons, where it 
was made." 

" We will ar- 
range all that," 
replied Frank; 
"but first we 
will do what ev- 
erybody does, 
or should do, as 
soon as he has 
arrived here." 

"What is 
that ?" 

" Ascend the 
heights of Four- 
vieres, and look 
at Lyons from 
the dome of the 
church of Notre Dame de Fourvieres, which is elevated 360 feet above 
the rivers Saone and Rhone, on whose banks the city stands." 

A carriage was engaged to take the party to the Palace of Justice, 




ANCIENT LACE IN THE MUSEUM. 



HEIGHTS OF FOURVIERES. 



247 



whence there is an inclined railway to the top of the heights. Frank 

accompanied his mother in the train which carried them up the incline, 

but Mary and Fred thought it would be fun to ascend on foot by one 

of the paths which a policeman 

pointed out. They reached the 

top of the hill with flushed 

cheeks. Mary admitted that once 

or twice during the ascent she 

wished she had gone by the train, 

but now that the fatigue was 

gone she was glad she had made 

the trip in the way she did. 

" The view is well worth the 
trouble of ascending," said Fred, 
" and no one who makes it will 
forget it in a hurry. The city of 
nearly four hundred thousand in- 
habitants is spread out like a map 
beneath us, and we can trace its 
streets and avenues just as we 
traced those of Paris from the 
summit of the Eiffel Tower. The 
Rhone and the Saone unite here, 
and the principal part of Lyons 
lies between the two rivers. As 
we stand on Fourvieres we have 
the city and both the rivers in 
front of us. We counted thirteen 
bridges across the Saone and nine 
over the Rhone, and we could 
look down on the decks of the 
steamboats that navigate the 
Rhone and almost gaze into their 
funnels. Beyond the city we had 

a wide vista of fields, some of them level and others undulating ; then 
we saw a great many villages and hills, and here and there were patches 
or wide stretches of forest very irregular in shape. 

" The day was clear, and we were told that we might possibly see 
Mont Blanc, a hundred miles away. We could see the snowy range of 
the Alps, but I'm not sure whether we really made out the monarch of 




A NARROW STREET. 



248 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




them or not. Nearer to us were the mountains of La Grande-Char- 
treuse and ISIont Pilat, and the custodian of the dome who acted as 
guide called our attention to the Alps of the Dauphine. If any reader 
of this narrative ever goes to Lyons, I earnestly advise him to ascend to 
the top of Fourvieres before he undertakes to see anything else. 

" I could have stayed there for hours ; but silks were the attraction 
of Lyons, and we went in pursuit of them. And what do you suppose 
was the first thing we saw in connection with the silk industry of this 
thriving city, whose fortune has come from weaving % 

" It wasn't a loom, or a silk shop, or anything of the kind ; but a 
statue that stands in one of the squares of the city — a statue repre- 
senting Jacquard, the inventor of the loom that bears his name. It 
stands on the spot where his first loom was destroyed by order of the 
leaders of the weaving industrv of Lvons, who feared that the machine 
would work a great injury to their business." 

" I have been reading about Jacquard," said Mary, as the party stood 
in front of the statue, " and find that there was so much opposition to 
his loom that his life was repeatedly threatened ; and on one occasion 
he saved himself b}^ escaping through a window, and thus eluded the 
mob that had broken into his house." 

" Did he die in poverty and obscurity, as has been the case with 



THE JACQUARD LOOM. 



249 



so many men whose inventions and discoveries in arts and sciences 
have benefited the world ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" I'm glad to say he did not," answered Fred. " He was born in 
Lyons in 1752, and his great invention was completed and made public 
in 1801. The opposition of the people of Lyons drove him to Paris, 
where he received a gold medal and was presented to Napoleon I. 
Napoleon appreciated the value of the invention sufficiently to grant a 
pension to Jacquard. Long before his death, in 1834, he was honored 
by his native city, and this statue which commemorates him was erected 
by the city authorities six years after his death." 

" I'm glad to hear that," said Mrs. Bassett. " As I understand it, the 
Jacquard loom enables an ordinary workman to produce the most beau- 
tiful patterns with very little trouble." 

" Yes," replied Frank ; " a machine under the guidance of an ordinary 
intellect does what was formerly accomplished only with a vast amount 
of patience and labor combined with great skill." 

Our friends then proceeded to one of the silk -houses, whose address 
they had obtained at the hotel. They made their purchases, and then, 
under the guidance of an employe of the house, they went to the home 
of one of the workmen where several looms were in operation. 




MOONLIGHT SCENE NEAR LYONS. 



250 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

A description of the loom and its mode of operation would be too 
technical for the general reader, and we therefore forbear. Briefly, it 
may be said that Jacquard's invention consists in so guiding the action 
of the loom that it will produce figures or designs of any kind with no 
further effort on the part of the weaver than for the production of plain 
cloth. The threads of the warp are controlled by little hooks acting 
through perforations in cards. The same patterns may be produced 
over and over again by the cards, and a dozen sets of cards may be 
perforated at once, so that many looms producing identical patterns 
may be set in operation simultaneously. 

The reader who desires a fuller description than we are able to give 
in our limited space will find what he desires in any good encyclopaedia. 

Before our friends left the house where they saw the loom they were 
surrounded by several children, who held out their hands for gifts of 
money. Frank and Fred gave a few copper coins to each of the urchins, 
and the money was promptly deposited in the little "banks" which 
stood in a row on a shelf within easy reach. There was a "bank" for 
each of the juvenile members of the family, and doubtless the adult mem- 
bers of the household had similar places for storing their reserve cash. 

"I could deliver a long essay on the prosperity of France," said 
Fred, as they left the house and were once more in the open air, " and 
the basis for my essay would be found in those little banks we have 
just seen in the possession of the children." 

" Deliver a few paragraphs of it now, please," said Mary. " I want 
to hear them, and am sure mamma does, too." 

"Well, then, here goes," said Fred. "The prosperity of France is 
found in the economical habits of the people. You know what Scotch 
thrift is, as it is a by-word wherever the English language is spoken." 

" Yes, I know all about it," Mary replied, " and my eyes long ago 
told me that the French are just as thrifty as the Scotch. They begin 
the habit of saving when very young : we have just had an example 
of it, and a very practical one it was." 

" Yes," replied Fred, " and the habit once formed remains through 
life. Of course there are spendthrifts among them. It is said there can 
never be a rule without an exception, but the general tendency of the 
whole people is to live within their means and ' save something for a 
rainy day.' In nine cases out of ten, American children in the place of 
those French ones we just saw, would have spent their money for 
candy ; in nineteen such cases out of twenty in France, the money goes 
into a tiny savings-bank, as ours did, and is carefully treasured." 



FRENCH HABITS OF ECONOMY. 



251 



" The savings of the French people amount to an enormous sum," 
said Frank, as his cousin paused. " When the Government needed a 
loan of five milliard francs (one thousand million dollars), to pay the 
indemnity to Germany, in the Avar of 1870-71, the loan was immediately 




CASTLE ON THE RHONE NEAR VALENCE. 



taken up by the people, and by far the greater part of it came from 
the savings of the working classes and people of moderate means." 

"Was that really the case?" queried Mrs. Bassett, in a tone of sur- 
prise, as she thought of the large amount. 

" Quite so," said Fred ; " and it was the same way when other loans 
were wanted by the Government. In 1855 the Government wanted a 
loan of $150,000,000 to pay the expenses of the war with Russia, gener- 
ally called the Crimean War. Nearly five times the amount which they 
wanted was subscribed ; $50,000,000 of the subscriptions were in sums 
of $10 or less, and some were for less than one dollar." 

"No wonder that Benjamin Franklin was so popular when he came 
to France," said Mrs. Bassett. " The maxims of Poor Richard's Al- 
manac were exactly like those of the French people." 



252 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

The advantages to a nation of a habit of thrift among its people 
were discussed at considerable length, but unfortunately for us none of 
the party kept note of the remarks that were made on the subject, and, 
therefore, we are unable to repeat them. 

In the course of their promenade through Lyons our friends visited 
the cathedral and other venerable buildings, and also the place which is 
reputed to have been the site of a Roman fort in the ancient days of 
Lyons. According to history, the Greeks had a settlement and strong- 
hold here in the sixth century before the Christian era, and were fol- 
lowed by the Eomans, who founded a city called Lugdunum, in the year 
40 b.c. The aqueduct which supplied the city with water can be traced 
for miles, and some of its arches are still standing. 

" There was a Roman amphitheatre here," said Frank, " but very little 
remains of it. The most perfect specimen of a Roman amphitheatre in 
the South of France is at Mmes, and it is in nearly as good condition as 
the Colosseum at Rome. All through this part of France there are 
abundant evidences of the Roman occupation. The Romans were noble 
builders, and if it had not been for the destructive ways of the people 
who succeeded them we might see far more of their work in buildings 
and other things than we can at present. 

" The earliest of the Roman settlements here," the youth continued, 
" was at Aqua? Sextias, in the year 123 b.c. There is a city there yet, and 
it is known by the much shorter name of Aix. It contains Roman re- 
mains sufficient to establish its identity beyond the possibility of a doubt, 
but not as many as the cities of Mmes and Aries — the ancient Arelate." 

" I was looking this morning at an album of views along the 
Rhone," said Mary. " Do all the castles and other great buildings along 
the river belong to the time of the Romans ?" 

" Not by any means," was the reply ; " they are of the Middle Ages 
like the castles we saw along the Rhine, and very much later than the 
Romans. Most of them are in ruins, but here and there we find one in 
good preservation, though it would not be able to offer serious resistance 
to modern artillery. All have their stories of sieges and suffering, and 
altogether many volumes might be filled with them, just as in the case 
of the castles, which we saw in Germany. But for the present we will 
consider modern things, and look at this part of the world as we find it." 

"When our friends had finished with the sights of Lyons a conference 
was held on the all-important subject of where to go next. The incli- 
nations of all were in the direction of Switzerland, and consequently it 
was decided that they would go there. Mrs. Bassett suggested that as 



FROM FRANCE TO SWITZERLAND. 



253 



the Rhone came from Switzerland, they might travel thither by water 
instead of by railway. Mary thought the journey by river would be too 
slow for them, as she had read about the " arrowy Rhone," and the 
idea of making headway against a stream of the swiftness of an arrow 
was not altogether agreeable. Fred undertook to ascertain what were 
the facilities of travel on the Rhone, but his report on the subject was 
not favorable to Mrs. Bassett's proposal. 

" It is ninety miles from here to Aix-les-Bains by the river," said he, 
" and the steamers take thirteen hours for the ascent, though they come 
down in eight hours. The difference is caused by the arrowy nature of 
the Rhone, which Mary mentioned and had misgivings about. 

" We might get along with the time," he continued, " as the scenery 
is very good and well worth seeing. But the trouble is there is no 
steamer advertised for three days, and even then there is no certainty 




AMPHITHEATRE AT NiMES. 



that she will leave. The steamboat business has been very seriously 
damaged by the building of the railway, and the boats do not run with 
their former regularity." 



254 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

So it was decided the party would go by railway to Geneva, spend- 
ing a day or two at Aix-les-Bains, a famous bathing resort for invalids 
and others. While on the subject of steamboats, Fred called attention 
to the circumstance that it was at Lyons, between 1780 and 1783, that 
the Marquis de Jouffroy made experiments at propelling boats by means 
of steam. In the year last named he built a boat 140 feet long, with 
which he ascended the Saone for several miles. He had no money with 
which to continue his experiments, and his schemes were considered so 
visionary that he could obtain nothing from others, and the Government 
refused to grant a patent for his invention. It has been claimed that 
Robert Fulton obtained from the marquis his plans for the steamboat ; 
whether he did so or not is immaterial, as the idea of propelling boats 
by means of a steam-engine had been put forth by Hull and others be- 
fore either of those inventors was born. 

The halt at Aix-les-Bains, or " Aix," as it is usually called by visitors, 
was made according to the programme, and our friends agreed that the 
time was well employed. The place was celebrated for its baths as far 
back as the time of the Romans ; any doubts on this point which may 
have existed in the minds of Mrs. Bassett and her daughter were re- 
moved by a visit to the remains of the Roman baths, to which they 
were taken by a local guide. These baths are not as well preserved as 
those at ]STimes and some other places farther to the south, but they are 
sufficient to indicate their purposes. 

" The waters here are good for rheumatism and gout, and also for 
bronchitis and cutaneous diseases, together with other maladies with 
which humanity is afflicted," wrote Fred in his journal. " As none of us 
are sufferers we do not intend trying the baths, much to the disappoint- 
ment of the doctor attached to the hotel, as he is thus deprived of fees 
he expected to obtain from us. The bathing establishment is one of the 
best we have seen anywhere, and must have cost a great deal of money. 
There are two principal springs, both of them warm ; one spring con- 
tains sulphur in the water, and the other is supposed to contain alum, 
though there is really no alum in it. The water of both springs is used 
for bathing, and that of the sulphur spring is prescribed for drinking at 
the source, the doctors saying that it must be taken in that way in order 
to be beneficial to the patient. 

"For those who like to swim there are two swimming-baths, and 
they retain their Roman name of piscines (fish-ponds). Mary asked if 
she could be allowed to angle in the fish-ponds, and was politely in- 
formed that there were no fish there. 



AIX-LES-BAINS TO GENEVA. 



255 







,vv V ,in " i s 



"TRVJW5 



1 , i _ s - - - 

lillpllHMSii 



ROMAN BATHS AT N1HES. 



" ' Then why do you call them fish-ponds V 

" ' Because they've always been called so,' was the prompt answer 
of the custodian. ' And we also do so out of respect to our ancestors 
the Romans, who first made the place popular.' 

" Mary declared that she would not propound any more conundrums 
to the natives as long as she stayed here. She concluded from the 
promptness of the response that the man had heard the question very 
often, and had his answer ready for all querists." 

"We had a delightful ride from Aix-les-Bains to Geneva," said 
Mary, " changing trains at Culoz, where the line branches into Switzer- 
land. Between Culoz and Geneva we followed, in a general way, the 
valley of the Rhone, and a very wild and picturesque valley it is. In 
some places the train runs along the sides of deep gorges, and as we 
looked from the windows of the railway carriage down, down, down to 
the rushing water far below us, it made me shudder to think what 
would happen if the train should leave the track and leap down into 
that frightful abyss. I said so to Fred, just as we passed the deepest 
place, and what do you suppose he answered ? 

" Of course you can't guess. He said he thought if such a thing 
happened the whole train and its contents might possibly be worth ten 
cents a bushel. That was all. 



256 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" I was about to rebuke him for his unfeeling reply, when it occurred 
to me that it was only another way of saying it was nonsense for me to 
be giving way to such thoughts. Guess I won't bother about the train 
getting off the track until it has done so. 

"The country is so rough that it is a wonder how they built a rail- 
way through it at all. Fred told me, when we were approaching 
Bellegarde station, that it was the place where the Rhone lost itself. I 
asked what he meant, and he said that formerly the river flowed for a 
hundred yards or so underground through a mass of fallen rock and 
through caverns in the limestone. It was called 'Perte du Rhone' 
(Loss of the Rhone), but of late years the ' Loss ' has been lost in some 
measure. The river is partly carried through a canal cut in the side of 
the gorge, and the rocks have been blasted away in the gorge, so that 
timber can be floated down the Rhone at the time of its annual flood. 
" They have taken advantage of the great amount of water-power 

at Bellegarde, and utilized it so 
1 that it runs several mills and fac- 
I tories. Fred says they are run 
on the same principle that is 
being applied at Niagara to util- 
ize the power of the water there. 
Great turbines are set in the rock 
and turned by the water, which 
is brought through a canal, and 
from the turbines the power is 
carried to the mills by cables that 
run through enormous pulleys. 

"I told Fred I should under- 
stand his description better if he 
would tell me what a turbine is. 
He explained that a turbine is 
a water-wheel ; and then I won- 
dered why he didn't say water- 
wheel instead of turbine when 
talking to a girl who doesn't 
know much about machinery. 

" This led to the explanation 
that while a turbine may be a wa- 
ter-wheel, all water-wheels are not turbines. Then he made me under- 
stand the peculiarity of a turbine by saying that the water passes through 




WOMEN OF AKLES. 



AN ANCIENT FORTRESS. 257 

channels cut in the wheel itself and in the casing around it. It is per- 
pendicular, while nearly all other water-wheels are horizontal, and its 
power increases according to the height of the fall. The first turbines 




COLOSSEUM AT ARLES. 



were used in France in the early part of this century, but the original 
ones have been greatly improved by English and American inventors. 

"Between Bellegarde and Geneva we passed in sight of a fort, 
which is said to be a very strong one. Like all forts in this part of the 
world, it has been in various hands, and is several hundred years old. 
The French have it now, and they have enlarged it very much, and cut 
batteries in the solid rock, so that it could hold back a large army if 
one should be sent against it. I told Fred that if I were a great gen- 
eral and had to get by this fort I would march a long way around 
rather than run against it. He agreed with me ; and then we went to 
planning how we would make war if we were obliged to. Before we 
had our plans completed we were at the station in Geneva, and decided 
that peace was much better than war." 

17 



258 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEK XV. 

THE LAND OF WILLIAM TELL.— IS THE STORY OF TELL A MYTH?— JOHN CALVIN 
AND HIS WORK ; SHORT SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.— VIEW OF MONT BLANC ; HEIGHT 
OF THE FAMOUS MOUNTAIN— ST. PETER'S CHURCH.— PULPIT WHERE CALVIN 
AND KNOX PREACHED.— CALVIN'S CHAIR.— SERVETUS BURNED AT THE STAKE. 
—THE EAGLES OF GENEVA.— THE RHONE LAUNDRY.— FOUNTAIN OF THE ESCA- 
LADE AND ITS ORIGIN.— HOW THE DUKE OF SAVOY WAS DEFEATED.— SWISS 
THRIFT AND ECONOMIES.— NEW WAY OF MAKING A HOTEL BILL.— ROUSSEAU'S 
ISLAND.— JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU.— FEEDING THE SWANS.— WATCH-MAKING 
AT GENEVA.— MACHINE V-ERSUS HAND LABOR. 



" \/V/ rELL ' here we 

they were 



are in Switzerland !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, as 
going from the railway station to the hotel. 
" This is the land of William Tell, 
and of the Alps." 

" Yes," replied Frank, " but do 
you know that some wise men are 
now attempting to prove that the 
story of William Tell and the apple 
is all a myth ?" 

"I read something about that, 
but didn't care to read any more. 
The story is too good to be spoiled, 
and I hope it will be kept just as 
it is through all time." 

" At any rate, the Swiss are de- 
termined to keep it," was the reply, 
" as they have monuments in mem- 
ory of the hero, and every child in 
the country knows the account of 
Tell's meeting with the tyrant Gess- 
ler, who compelled him to shoot the 
apple from the head of his son." 

" Suppose we let William Tell rest 
johx calvin. for the present," Fred remarked; 




CALVIN AND KNOX AT GENEVA. 259 

"his exploit occurred six hundred years ago, and will probably keep 
a while longer. Meantime, let us see what Geneva contains, or has ever 
contained, that is interesting." 

" It contains one interesting thing," said Mary, " and that is a view 
of the Alps, or, at any rate, of a part of them." 

By mutual consent the exploit of William Tell with the apple and 
arrow was allowed to rest, and our friends turned their attention to 
the city, which stands at the outlet of Lake Leman, and was an impor- 
tant place in the time of the Romans ; in fact, it was a city of conse- 
quence before they invaded this part of the world. It has had many 
owners. As early as the £fth century it was a bishop's seat, and it 
twice belonged to the ancient kingdom of Burgundy. 

" This is where Calvin and Knox lived and preached the doctrines of 
the Reformation," Mrs. Bassett remarked. " Calvin died here, I believe, 
and I want to see his grave and the monument to his memory." 

" You forget, my dear mother," said Frank, respectfully, " that Cal- 
vin prohibited the erection of any monument bearing his name, or even 
that the location of his grave should be indicated by an ordinary stone. 
They will show us a spot where he is alleged to lie, but there is no cer- 
tainty that it is where he was buried. Several times it has been pro- 
posed to erect a handsome monument to him, but his words are remem- 
bered and the monument has never taken shape." 

" "Well, we can see the pulpit where he preached, can we not ?" 

" Certainly," replied Frank, " and we will see it in our very first walk 
through Geneva." By this time they were at the hotel, where we will 
leave them till they start on their proposed stroll. 

But while they are selecting their rooms at the hotel we will take 
the opportunity to say that Geneva lies on both sides of the River 
Rhone, at the point where it emerges from the lake, which boasts of 
two names — Geneva and Leman. The city embraces, also, the end of 
the lake, where it narrows towards its outlet, and has been enclosed 
within jetties so as to form a harbor. The old part of Geneva is almost 
entirely on the left bank of the Rhone. The modern extension has 
been principally on the right bank and along the shore of the lake. 
The newest and most attractive hotels are on the right bank, and it 
was one of these which received the patronage of our friends. 

The new part of the city has an advantage over the old in present- 
ing a view of Mont Blanc, which is not visible from the ancient Geneva 
on account of an intervening hill. As the party came out of the hotel, 
Frank led the way to the Quay de Mont Blanc, which was close at hand, 



260 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and directed the attention of Mrs. Bassett and Mary to the celebrated 
monarch of the Alps. 

The air was clear, and the sun shone bright on the snow -covered 
mountain. Mrs. Bassett said she was a little disappointed in the view, 
as she thought Mont Blanc was higher than it appeared to be. " But I 
suppose it is on account of the distance," she added, after a pause. 

" Yes, that is the reason of it," replied Frank ; " and the curious cir- 
cumstance is, that you perceive the relative heights of the chain of the 
Alps much better here than when you are close to their feet at Cha- 
mouni. There Mont Blanc appears lower than its neighbors, that are 
really three thousand feet less in height. The farther you are from a 
range of mountains, so long as you can make them out distinctly, the 
better comparison can you make concerning them." 

" What is the height of Mont Blanc ?" 

"Fifteen thousand seven hundred and eighty -one feet," was the 
reply. " It is the highest mountain in Europe and also the most famous. 
The next highest is Monte Rosa, 15,217 feet, and next to that is Finster- 
aarhorn, 14,026 feet. Though people have lived in its neighborhood 
for many centuries, it was never ascended until 1786, when an enter- 
prising guide named Jacques Balmat reached the top. I'll tell you 
about him when we are at Chamouni, where there is a monument to 
his memory." 

After a leisurely walk along the quay, whence the snowy range of 
the Alps could be seen, our friends crossed the new bridge, the Pont du 
Mont Blanc, which Mrs. Bassett remarked was both a bridge and a 
promenade, and reached the old part of the city. At the suggestion of 
Frank, they entered the kiosque that contains the model in relief of 
. Mont Blanc and its neighbors. This relief is carved in wood, and gives 
an excellent idea of the relative heights and positions of the mountains, 
and shows the roads, streams, and glaciers with great fidelity. Then 
they continued their walk to a point where a portion of the old ram- 
parts of the city has been laid out into a promenade and gives a good 
view of the lake. Like most other cities of Europe, Geneva was once 
surrounded with walls, which have been removed in consequence of their 
having been rendered useless by the invention of modern artillery. Very 
wisely, the people kept just enough of their ancient defences to show 
what they once were, and have utilized them for a public resort. 

"Here we are at the cathedral of St. Peter," said Frank, as they 
reached the door of that venerable church. "This is the church 
where Calvin and Knox preached," he continued, "and the walls 



262 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



of the building have echoed to the voices of other noted men of the 
Reformation." 

The concierge was readily found, and on payment of the customary 
fee he showed the party through the edifice. He said the church was 
completed in the year 1024, but had undergone considerable alterations 
since that time, especially in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. As 
he led the way to the pulpit he said it was the very pulpit in which 
Knox and Calvin spoke, and that the canopy above it was the same as 
in their day. He showed a chair which once belonged to Calvin. Frank 
whispered to his mother that it was wonderfully well preserved for a 
chair three centuries old, and must have been " restored " a great many 
times. 

From the church they went to the house where Calvin lived from 
1543 until his death, twenty-two years later. Then they went to the 




INTERIOR OP ST. PETER S CATHEDRAL. 



garden on the shore of the lake, and sat on one of the benches beneath 
the trees to study the panorama that was before their eyes, and talk 
about the great reformer. 



JOHN CALVIN AND HIS WORK. 263 

" After Martin Luther," said Mrs. Bassett, " John Calvin was the 
greatest character of the Reformation. Where was he born ?" 

" He was a native of Picardy, in France," said Fred, " and his name 
in French was Cauvin or Chauvin. He was educated for the Church, 
but after passing his twentieth year he abandoned theology for the 
law. While he was studying law he became interested in the study of 
the Protestant doctrines, which he afterwards openly announced and 
preached. He wrote a treatise or commentary, which was intended to 
induce the King, Francis I., to show clemency towards the Protestants, 
but it does not seem to have had any effect. His teachings and preach- 
ing resulted in his expulsion from France, and that is what brought him 
to Geneva. 

" He remained here for a time and then went to Strasburg, intend- 
ing to continue to Germany, but he was persuaded to return to Geneva 
and make his home here. Geneva was then a republic by itself, and did 
not belong to the Swiss Confederation. The Government and people 
were strongly inclined to the Protestant faith, and when they estab- 
lished it their spiritual rulers became as intolerant as had been the 
Catholics who preceded them." 

"It was not an age of tolerance," Frank remarked, as his cousin 
paused. " In religion, as in politics, those who had the power wielded 
it with an iron hand, and the oppressed became oppressors whenever 
they had the opportunity." 

" Calvin made some very severe rules for the people of Geneva, did 
he not ?" queried Mrs. Bassett. 

" Certainly he did," was the reply ; " but somehow the people seem- 
ed to like them, with now and then an exception. Every citizen was 
obliged to be a Christian and conform to the established doctrine. No 
cards, dice, or other forms of gaming were allowed; frivolous words 
were forbidden ; attendance at church was obligatory ; men were re- 
quired to rise at four in the morning, and begin the day with prayer ; 
lights were to be out and all fires covered at nine in the evening ; and 
any infraction of these rules was punished with great severity. Calvin 
has been charged with causing Servetus, a man who had opinions of his 
own, to be burned at the stake. His apologists say that while he fa- 
vored the death of Servetus, and aided in securing his conviction, he 
pleaded earnestly for a more humane mode of execution, but in vain. 
The senate of Geneva would not modify their order, and Servetus was 
burned accordingly. 

" That it was in accordance with the intolerant spirit of the time is 



264 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

shown by the circumstance that Melancthon and Bullinger, two noted 
men of the Reformation, approved the execution of Servetus, and be- 
lieved it would be a benefit to the cause they were advocating." 

The conversation about John Calvin and his connection with the 
Reformation was cut short by a suggestion from Mary that they must 
not miss the Eagles of Geneva. Frank assented to the suggestion, and 
the party proceeded to the spot where the historic birds are caged. 

Frank explained to his mother that the eagle is the symbol of Ge- 
neva, just as the bear is the symbol of Berne. Six eagles are kept in 
a cage at the public expense, and when one of them dies another is 
bought to take its place. Some of these captive eagles have lived forty 
or fifty years, and it is said that one of them survived nearly a century. 
Mary observed that the birds were not much inclined to be sociable, 
as they paid no attention to her or any others of the party, but all 
sat stolidly on their perches, as though wondering why they were not 
allowed their freedom. 

More interesting than the eagles was the Tower of Caesar and the 
boats near it, where the laundresses of Geneva go to wash clothes in the 
swift -flowing river. Mrs. Bassett thought that the laundry work of 
Geneva ought to be of the very best, as there was such an abundant 
supply of pure water for rinsing clothes. Where it enters the lake, at 
the farther end, the Rhone is a muddy stream, bringing down the im- 
purities of the soil from its source at the foot of the Rhone Glacier ; in 
the lake it settles and purifies itself, so that when it flows past the 
city of Geneva it is " deeply, darkly, beautifully blue," as it has been 
poetically described. 

But we are forgetting the Tower of Caesar, which is a very old 
structure, and in past centuries was an important point of observation. 
Tradition says that at one time it belonged to the dukes of Savoy, 
who used to watch their neighbors, the people of Geneva, from the com- 
manding top, and lay plans for their capture. As they stood in front 
of the tower Frank narrated the story of an attempt of the Savoyards 
to take possession of Geneva, in the year 1602, and their defeat, which 
is still celebrated by the people of Geneva, on December 12th, just as 
the Americans celebrate the Fourth of July. 

"It was in a time of profound peace," said Frank, "that the Duke 
of Savoy made his way into the neighborhood of Geneva with an army 
of 4000 men, under pretence of hunting. Every man and boy in Ge- 
neva at that time was trained to be a warrior, and was expected to rush 
to the city's defence whenever the alarm was sounded. Every night at 



266 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



)l ..■■■•$ ' #^i 

I iiui 



sunset the gates were closed, and sentinels were posted ; and this was 
done invariably at all times, whether in peace or war. 

" Nothing was suspected of the intentions of the duke, and on the 
night in question the city retired to sleep, only the sentinels at the gates 

and on the walls being on watch. 
- v The duke brought his army of 

& ^ i gg^^k 4000 men close to the walls under 

cover of the darkness ; then he 
had 300 picked men scale the 
walls silently and stealthily by 
means of ladders, and conceal 
themselves along the ramparts. 

" It was the intention for these 
300 soldiers to lie perfectly still 
until daybreak, when they were to 
seize the gates and open them for 
the admission of the army. About 
two o'clock in the morning one 
of the sentinels thought he saw 
something moving, and told his 
corporal, who sent five men to in- 
vestigate. Four of the men were 
overpowered, but the fifth had 
time to discharge the fire-arm that 
he carried. A drummer who fol- 
lowed the five also escaped, and 
ran to the tower, beating his 
drum as he ran. Then the general alarm was sounded, and the 
Genevese men dressed in great haste and ran to the walls. The 300 
Savoyards were caught within the walls and were all killed. It had 
been agreed that a cannon from the walls was to be the signal for the 
army to advance, and when the Genevese fired their first cannon the 
army came forward, only to find the walls covered with defenders." 
" What happened then ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" The army was defeated, and the duke was obliged to retire after 
suffering heavy loss. It is said that when his 300 chosen men had suc- 
ceeded in scaling the walls without discovery he considered that Geneva 
was in his possession, and sent off couriers to all the Catholic courts of 
Europe announcing that he had entered the city." 

" He was what is described in a slang phrase of the present day, ' a 




EAGLES OF GENEVA. 



A HISTORIC FOUNTAIN. 



267 



little too previous,' " Fred remarked, as his cousin paused. Frank as- 
sented to the suggestion, and then Mrs. Bassett and Mary wanted to 
know what would have happened to the people of Geneva if the duke's 
stratagem had succeeded. 

"He had ordered his officers to massacre the inhabitants and give 
the city over to the soldiers to be plundered ; at least, such is the story 
of the Protestant historians. Curiously enough, the attempt of the 
duke was the cause of much prosperity to Geneva. Great sums of 
money were sent to the city from various parts of Protestant Europe, 
and hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers offered their services in its 
defence. And that is probably the reason why the anniversary of the 
Escalade has been celebrated down to this day with a great deal of 
enthusiasm on every Twelfth of December." 

Then Frank led the way to the Fountain of the Escalade, which 
commemorates the event, and was erected at the expense of the city 
about the middle of the present century. It stands close to the spot 
where the sentinel discovered the moving objects on the parapet, as 
narrated by Fred in his account of the attempted surprise. The fount- 
ain is ornamented with bronze figures which are represented as scaling 
the walls, and surmounted with an allegorical figure in bronze which 
represents the city of Geneva. 

" According to what I have heard and read about them," said Mrs. 
Bassett, " the Swiss are a very thrifty people, and always ready to em- 
brace an opportunity to make money. If this is the case, the attempt 
of the Duke of Savoy against Geneva is something that they would 
regard as a piece of good-fortune. 
I read not long ago a story, which 
is attributed to Yoltaire, to the ef- 
fect that in a storm on the lake a 
boat was wrecked, and the body of 
a woman was washed ashore. Ef- 
forts to restore her were useless 
and were about to be abandoned, 
when a passing stranger asked 
whence the woman came. When 
he learned that she was a Genevese 
he said there was an infallible way 
to determine if she were alive or 
dead. He put a crown piece in 
her hand ; her fingers closed upon fountain of the escalade. 




268 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



it, and she speedily revived and made great haste to put the money 
in her pocket." 

"Yes," replied Frank; "that story is in one of Yoltaire's poems. 
He had a bitter hatred for the Genevese. He lived at Ferney, about 
four miles from the city, and was never tired of abusing his neighbors ; 
and it is related of him that he wrote satires about them, and had the 
satires put under the doors of the principal citizens of Geneva at night. 
He was a bitter enemy of the little republic ; and his hatred is said to 

have arisen in consequence of their religion." 

" But are the people as fond of money as 
Yoltaire would have us believe ?" 

" It is possible that he exaggerated the case 
a little ; but as you travel through Switzerland 
you will find that human ingenuity has been 
pretty well exhausted in devising means for 
extracting money from the visitors' pockets. 
Every point whence a view can be enjoyed is 
carefully fenced in where fencing is possible, 
and if there is an echo anywhere there is al- 
ways somebody at hand with a horn to tort- 
ure it to the utmost. In either case payment 
is expected for the real or fancied service, and 
very often the services are more fanciful than 
real. When we sit down to dinner in any 
large hotel we shall probably be entertained 
by a musical band, which is supplied without 
inquiry as to whether it is wanted or not. "We 
shall be expected to pay for the music, either 
by contributions dropped into a hat, or by a 
charge of half a franc extra for each listener, 
which we shall find in our bills with similar ' extras.' 

" On some of the roads drivers of wagons or carriages, or owners of 
saddle-horses, are forbidden to take a return passenger. The party who 
has engaged a vehicle to take him to a certain destination must pay 
for the double journey, and if a traveller at that point wishes to hire it 
for the return he cannot do so. He must engage a fresh vehicle, pay- 
ing for both ways, while the one he might hire at a low price is com- 
pelled to go back empty. Thus the law operates to the disadvantage 
of travellers and in favor of the thrifty Swiss. 

" If the stranger in Switzerland sets his face against the numerous 




A STREET PORTER. 



SWISS IMPOSITIONS ON TRAVELLERS. 



269- 



petty swindles that are perpetrated he will be continually in trouble. The 
best plan is to accept them as part of the expense of travel in the coun- 
try, and make a stand now and then when they become too oppressive." 

Frank then narrated the experiences of several travellers who were 
comparing notes about Switzerland. One of them told how he found 
ice served at dinner to everybody, and as he was from the land where 
ice is customary at table he thought the scheme an excellent one. His 
views changed when he found that every patron of the house had been 
charged half a franc extra for ice — an arrangement which gave a hand- 
some return to the landlord for his trouble. 

Another told how he called for his bill once when leaving a hotel,, 
and found it larger than he had expected. He looked carefully through 
it to find overcharges, but could not detect them ; again he looked, but 
overcharges he could not discover. Then he went over the bill again y 
copying each item on a slip of paper in order to analyze the document 
more thoroughly. This time he found where the trick was, and it 
was certainly a very 
shrewd one. 

It was the fifteenth 
of the month, and the 
date of the bill was so 
placed that the figures 
for it stood at the col- 
umn of items. As it 
was read off the bill 
was innocent enough, 
but unless the recipient 
was especially watch- 
ful he would be pretty 
sure to add in the date, 
and thus augment the 
items by the day of 
the month. On com- 
paring notes with oth- 
ers at the same hotel, 
the traveller found 
that the trick was 
played wherever there 
was a chance that it 
would not be detected. 




TRYING FOR A FEE. 



270 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" We must make a rule to call early for our bills, so as to have abun- 
dant time to examine them," said Frank. " When we are to leave in 
the morning we must have our bills the night before ; it is a trick to 
withhold the bill till the last minute, so that overcharges may escape 
undetected, in the hurry of the traveller's departure. 

" But though they may be prone to deceive," continued Frank, " the 
Swiss certainly are the best hotel-keepers in Europe. We shall find ex- 
cellent hotels almost everywhere we go, and it has often been said that 
a really bad one cannot exist here." 

We may say here that Frank's prediction was justified to the full 
extent, as was acknowledged by all members of the party before their 
departure from the country. The remark applies to the small hotels in 
the mountain districts as well as to the great establishments in Geneva, 
Berne, Lucerne, Yevay, Interlaken, Zurich, Basle, and other places. 

As they were turning away from the fountain of the Escalade, with 
their faces towards the lake, Mary asked for the island of Jean Jacques 
Rousseau, or, to abbreviate its title, " Rousseau Isle." 

"It is the smaller of the two islands in the Rhone, just as it leaves 
the lake," Fred replied. " We are going towards it, and will soon be 
there, if we don't stop on the way." 

They reached Rousseau's Island by means of the first bridge below 
that of Mont Blanc ; the island lies between the two bridges, and is con- 
nected with the lower one by a small bridge of its own. As they were 
approaching it Mrs. Bassett asked whence it received its name. 

" It was named after Jean Jacques Rousseau," replied Fred, " a 
musical composer and the author of several stories and philosophical 
works more or less famous. He was the son of a watch-maker of this 
city, and was born here in 1712 ; his mother died in his infancy, his fa- 
ther was obliged to flee from Geneva, and the boy was left to the care 
of an uncle. The uncle bound him as an apprentice to an engraver, but 
the occupation was uncongenial and the apprentice ran away to Savoy, 
where he led a wandering life for some years." 

" When did he develop his taste for music ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" He had been fond of it all his life, but in his youth devoted very 
little time to studying it. When he was twenty-one years old he found 
himself at Lausanne with no money in his pocket, and in order to avoid 
starvation he announced himself as 'a singing-teacher from Paris.' He 
obtained several pupils, though he declares in his Confessions that he 
was not at all qualified to teach even the rudiments of music. Not only 
did he call himself a teacher, but he set up as a composer, and actually 



REMINISCENCES OF ROUSSEAU. 



271 




JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. 



composed a piece of music which he gave to be performed at a private 
entertainment. His account of it is that it was a terrible discord which 
set the musicians and audience to laughing, the only piece of melody in 
the whole composition being a street air which he had ' borrowed ' from 
somebody, a practice not unknown in our day.'" 

" I don't believe he remained long in Lausanne after that perform- 
ance," Mary remarked, as Fred paused. 

"Exactly how long he remained I can't say," was the reply, "but 
until he went to Paris, in 1741, he never remained long in one place. 



272 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

He had invented a system of musical notation by figures which he 
hoped would bring him fame and fortune ; but it brought him neither, 
as the experts to whom it was referred for examination said that it was 
neither new nor useful. He lived in great poverty for a while, but all 
the time he was improving in musical knowledge, and engaged in liter- 
ature. Fame came to him in due course of time through his books and 
his musical compositions, and he was a favorite at the royal court. But 
the favor in which he was held came to an end when he published a 
letter on French music, and in it said ' there is neither measure nor mel- 
ody in it, because the language is not susceptible of them.' This remark, 
with others of a similar nature, roused such a burst of indignation that 
he fled from France and returned to his native city." 

By this time our friends were at the little island which is dedicated 
to Rousseau and contains his statue, shadowed by several tall trees. 
The tradition is that this island was a favorite retreat of the philoso- 
pher, and here he composed some of the works that made his name fa- 
mous. Another story is that very little of his life was passed at Geneva 
after his flight from it in his youth, the city honoring him far more 
since his death than it ever did during his life. 

The attention of Mary and Fred was divided between the statue of 
the philosopher and the colony of swans that occupy a wire enclosure 
at one side of the island, and it is the positive averment of Frank that 
the swans had by far the most of it. The girl and her cousin invested 
a goodly amount of copper coin in buying bread wherewith to feed the 
swans, whose appetites seemed to be as limitless as the snows on the 
summit of Mont Blanc, and a great deal more active. 

The other island which has been mentioned is much larger than 
that of Rousseau, and is crowded with tall houses, which are densely peo- 
pled by men and women of the working classes. It is a part of the 
Geneva of the time of John Calvin. The new Geneva is much larger 
than the old, and its population is increasing from year to year at a rate 
which promises to carry the municipal limits very much farther along 
the borders of the lake at no distant day. 

" What do the people do for a living besides keeping hotels ?" Mrs. 
Bassett asked, as they sat beneath the shade of the trees on Rousseau's 
Island and looked out upon the water. 

" Geneva is an important centre of the watch-making industry," re- 
plied Frank. " Out of the population of nearly eighty thousand there 
are probably six thousand engaged in the various branches of watch- 
making, and three thousand in the construction of musical boxes and 



INDUSTRIES OF GENEVA. 



273 



the manufacture of jewelry. Then there are factories for the produc- 
tion of velvets and other goods of silk, and for musical, mathematical, 
and surgical instruments. There are no duties on imported goods, and 
therefore an important industry is that of smuggling into France and 
Italy, which are close at hand." 

" It would be a good place to supply ourselves with watches," said 
Mary, " if we happened to want any." 

" Theoretically, yes," was the reply ; " but practically I believe it is 
otherwise. The dealers in watches must take care not to injure their 
trade with retailers elsewhere, and consequently the retail prices at 
Geneva are nearly, if not quite, the, same as the retail prices else- 
where. Sometimes they are said to be higher." 




TOWER OF OESAR, AND THE LAUNDRESSES. 



IS 



274 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

"Don't think of buying a watch in Geneva, my dear," said Mrs. 
Bassett, with a very decided emphasis in her voice. 

" Why so, mamma ?" queried Mary. 

" Because — well, let me tell you my experience. When your uncle, 
Doctor Bronson, made one of his early trips to Europe, and was intend- 
ing to visit Geneva, your father asked him to buy a watch here for me. 
He bought it, and was assured by the makers that it was one of the 
very best of its class. They told him that if it should happen to go 
wrong at any time he had only to take it to their agents, any one of 
their agents in America, and it would be set in order at once. They 
gave him a list of their agents, and he came away satisfied that he had 
made a fine purchase for me. 

"When I began to carry the watch it did not keep good time; 
something was out of order, and your father took it to the agent in 
Boston, where we lived at the time. The agent looked hastily at the 
watch and then handed it back, with the remark that he did not hold 
himself responsible for any watches purchased elsewhere than in his 
own establishment. He repudiated utterly the promises of the Geneva 

house, and all other agents of & Co. to whom the watch has 

been shown have done likewise. It proved to be worthless as a time- 
piece, and was sold long ago for the value of the gold in the case. 
Take my advice, my dear, and if you buy a Swiss watch buy it of a first- 
class dealer in the city where you live. But, better yet, be patriotic and 
buy an American watch — one that is likely to be more satisfactory as 
a timepiece than anything you will find in Switzerland." 

Frank and Fred echoed Mrs. Bassett's opinions upon the subject of 
watches, the former explaining to his sister that Swiss watches are 
nearly all the product of hand-labor, while the American watch is made 
as far as possible by machinery. 

Mary asked if the Americans put the material for their watches into 
one end of a machine and brought out the finished product at the other. 
Frank laughed at the suggestion, but said it was not so far from the 
facts of the case as might be imagined. 

" All the parts of an American watch — wheels, screws, pinions, and 
other things " — said Frank, " are made by machinery. When watches 
of any given grade are produced, the different parts for a hundred or a 
thousand of them may be thrown into a heap together. Then if enough 
to compose a single watch are picked out and put together they will be 
found to fit exactly. This is not the case with the different parts of 
Swiss watches, as they are mostly made by hand and require a great 



AMERICAN WATCH-MAKING. 



275 



deal of work to fit them together properly. If you break any part of 
your watch your jeweller has only to send to the factory for a dupli- 
cate, and it will not need any filing or adjusting to fit it into place." 

" Is not the same principle fol- 
lowed in other lines of American 
manufacture ?" Mary asked. 

" Yes," was the reply, " it is 
followed in the manufacture of 
fire-arms, sewing - machines, type- 
writers, agricultural implements, 
steam-engines, weighing appara- 
tus, and other things almost with- 
out number. It would be much 
easier to tell where it is not fol- 
lowed than where it is ; it is the 
American way of utilizing ma- 
chinery and making it take the 

place of hand-labor, for the double reason that it is less expensive and 
has a uniform accuracy that no hand-labor can ever attain." 

" I was reading the other day," said Mary, " about somebody who 
was designated as a ' machine politician.' Do they carry the same 
principle of manufacture into politics ?" 

" We haven't time to discuss American politics now," was the re- 
ply ; " at present we are concerning ourselves with Switzerland." 




SKULL WATCH OF MART STUART. 



276 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CANTON OF GENEVA ; SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY ; NOTED PERSONS WHO HAVE 
FOUND REFUGE AT GENEVA ; POPULATION, RELIGION, AND GOVERNMENT- 
GOVERNMENT OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC— THE ARMY AND NAVY— A SWISS 
ADMIRAL.— HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, AND THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER. 
—NEUTRALITY OF SWITZERLAND. — RUSSIAN NIHILISTS. — DRIVES AROUND 
GENEVA.— FERNEY AND VOLTAIRE.— RELICS OF THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER.— 
ANECDOTES OF VOLTAIRE'S LIFE. — LAKE LEMAN. — THE STEAMER BONN1- 
VARD.—TEE PRISONER OF CHILLON.— VOYAGE ALONG THE LA.KE.— REMINIS- 
CENCES OF BYRON AND GIBBON— OUCHY AND LAUSANNE. 



A DAY sufficed for the sights of Geneva, which are by no means nu- 
merous, as the reader has seen. " It is a small city, and has few 
monuments of consequence," said Frank ; " but it is a famous place in 
history, as it has been the stronghold of liberty for many centuries. 
You know already about its prominence in the work of the Reforma- 
tion. It has been called the printing-press 
of Europe, because it was the origin of many 
publications that were denied existence any- 
where else on the Continent. 

"Since the days of the Reformation it 
has been the refuge of those who were com- 
pelled to flee from their own lands because 
their opinions on religion or politics were 
not in favor at home. Don Carlos, the 
pretender to the Spanish throne, has lived 
here, and so have Queen Isabella and other 
deposed monarchs. For centuries it has been the resort of French- 
men who Avere exiled on account of their political opinions, and at 
present it is the dwelling-place of a considerable number of Russian 
Nihilists and other revolutionists from various European countries." 
" How large is the Canton of Geneva ?" Mary asked. 
" It contains one hundred and nine square miles altogether, and is 
therefore smaller in area than some American townships. It has not 




LATEEN RIG. 



GENEVA AND ITS GOVERNMENT. 277 

far from one hundred thousand inhabitants, and three-fourths of these 
reside within the limits of the city. Considering its area and popula- 
tion, it has certainly made a great deal of noise in the world for a place 
occupying so small a space on the map of Europe. 

"The population is about equally divided between Catholics and 
Protestants, and French is the prevailing language. There is a univer- 
sity here which was founded in 1368, and there are schools of such ex- 
cellent character that they attract pupils from all parts of Europe, and 
even from America and Asia. The government of the canton is repub- 
lican, and is controlled by a legislature, or ' Grand Council,' which con- 
tains one delegate for every 666 inhabitants." 

"I suppose these delegates make all the laws for the government 
of the city and canton," Mrs. Bassett remarked. 

" Yes," was the reply, " and they choose from their number an Exec- 
utive Committee, or ' Council of State,' of seven, whose duty is to exe- 
cute the laws, regulate the police, and attend to all matters of adminis- 
tration. They hold office for two years. The President receives a 
salary of $1100, and the other members $1000 each." 

" They are not paid very high for their services. But perhaps they 
do not have much to do in return for their money." 

" The city and canton are peaceful enough, and probably their offi- 
cers are not obliged to work very hard. They can look after their own 
business as well as that of the public, but the man who neglects public 
affairs for his own will very soon find himself unpopular." 

Frank" then said that for a long period Geneva was a republic by it- 
self. It was occupied by the French in the latter part of the last cen- 
tury and the early part of the present one. With the fall of Napoleon 
I., Geneva regained its freedom. It had been frequently allied with the 
Swiss, and in 1815 it was united with the Swiss Republic, being the last 
of the twenty-two cantons to join the confederation. " The Swiss Con- 
federation," Frank added, " was formed in 1308 by the three cantons of 
Uri, Schwyz, and TJnterwald. Five other cantons were united with it 
during the next fifty years, and in the sixteenth century it comprised 
thirteen cantons. Others were added from time to time until 1798, 
when it constituted the Helvetic Republic, which lasted until 1803." 

" What happened then ?" queried one of the listeners. 

"Napoleon I. organized a new confederation of nineteen cantons, 
and this was increased by the addition of Wallis, Neufchatel, and Gene- 
va in 1815. Geneva was the last to join the confederation, as you al- 
ready know." 



278 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" I suppose the cantons hold the same relation to the Central Gov- 
ernment that the various States of the American Union hold towards 
the Government at "Washington ; do they not ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" The relation is very much the same," Frank replied. " The can- 




VIEW IN OLD GENEVA. 



tons send representatives to the National Council, as the lower house of 
the Swiss Congress is called, in the proportion of one delegate for every 
20,000 of population. The upper house, corresponding to the American 
Senate, consists of forty-four members, two for each canton, and is called 
the ' Standerath,' or State Council. The representatives are elected every 
three years. Every citizen twenty years old may vote, and any citizen 
who is not a clergyman may be elected a deputy. Both houses are to- 
gether called the ' Bundes-Yersammlung,' or Federal Assembly ; this 
assembly elects a Bundesrath, or Federal Council, of seven members, 
and any citizen is eligible, provided he is a qualified voter. The Bundes- 
rath is the executive body of the Government ; the President and Vice- 
president of the Bundesrath are the highest officers of the republic, and 
they are elected by the Federal Assembly, to hold office for one year 



THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 



279 



only. They may be elected again, but not until they have been for 
one year out of office. The President receives $3000 a year, and the 
members of the Federal Council are paid $2400 each for their services, 
which are equivalent to those of members of the President's Cabinet in' 
the United States of America." 

" Thank you very much for this explanation of the form of the 
Swiss government," said Mrs. Bassett. " And there's one thing more I 
wish you would explain, as it puzzles me somewhat." 

" What is that ?" 

" How does it happen that this little republic manages to exist when 
it is surrounded by powerful monarchies? One might suppose that it 
would have been broken up long ago and annexed to one or other of its 
neighbors, or possibly divided among them." 

" It is doubtless the case that any of its neighbors would be glad to 
possess the whole of Switzerland, but no one of them would be willing 
for it to go into the possession of any or all of the others. The jealousy 




OPEN-AIR PARLIAMENT IN SWITZERLAND. 



280 THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

of the powers of each, other has been the protection of Switzerland. In 
1815 the Governments of France, Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and 
Russia made a formal acknowledgment of the neutrality of Switzerland 
and the integrity of her territory. None of them can make war upon 
her without bringing all the rest to her aid, and by the same treaty 
Switzerland is forbidden to make war upon any other country." 

" But hasn't she an army ?" 

"Certainly she has a military organization which corresponds to 
our militia, as the constitution forbids the maintenance of a standing 
army. Every citizen capable of bearing arms is liable to military duty ; 
he undergoes a certain amount of training, and the boys at school, from 
the age of eight years, are instructed in the manual of arms. In the 
first year of his service, when he is twenty years old, every man is called 
to perform from forty-two to eighty days of training, and after that, 
until he reaches the age of thirty-two years, he has sixteen days of train- 
ing each year. From his thirty-second to his forty-fourth year he may 
be called out for two or three days each year, and after the last named 
age until he is fifty he will be required to serve in case of war. Those 
who are eligible to service but do not perform it may pay a tax instead, 
but this is only allowed in time of peace. As the country has had no 
war within the memory of living men, the military duties of the Swiss 
army are not severe. The principal use of the troops has been to guard 
the frontier when any of her neighbors were at war, in order that the 
neutrality of the country should not be violated." 

" How large a navy is there in Switzerland ?" 

Frank paused before replying, and then suggested that the navy of 
Switzerland was like the snakes of Ireland. 

" You mean there isn't any," said Mrs. Bassett. " Of course I should 
have known that a country without a seaport could not have a navy 
— and yet it seems that I have heard of a Swiss admiral." 

" That is true ; but it was only in a play on the stage. In the opera- 
bouffe entitled ' La Yie Parisienne ' there is a Swiss admiral who comes 
upon the stage in a nondescript sort of costume that is exceedingly gro- 
tesque and with a pair of spurs on his heels." 

" Evidently a horse-marine," said Mary. And the army and navy of 
Switzerland were dropped from their conversation — at least for the time. 

" You mentioned the Russian Nihilists among those who found ref- 
uge at Geneva," said Mrs. Bassett. " Are there many of them here ?" 

" I know very little about them," replied the youth. " I asked the 
manager of the hotel to tell me about the Nihilists, and he said he could 




A NIHILIST FAMILY AT HOME. 



282 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

not give me much information, for the reason that they kept very closely 
to themselves and were rarely seen around any of the hotels. Most of 
them are very poor, so he told me, and live in cheap lodgings in obscure 
parts of the town. Those who have money spend it for the benefit of 
those who have none, or for the Nihilist cause. They are popularly 
supposed to be constantly plotting against the Government of Russia, 
and it is charged that some of the assassinations of high officials in 
the empire had their origin at Geneva. The refugees are constantly 
watched by spies, and it has been said that sometimes the city contains 
more spies than Nihilists. The latter aver that the spies try to incite 
them to do things that would lead to their expulsion from Geneva. 
The Swiss Government has given warning that plots against the Rus- 
sian Government or against the lives of any of the Czar's officials will 
not be permitted; and it happens now and then that a refugee comes 
under suspicion, and is ordered to leave the country. The Nihilists 
claim that they keep within the requirements of the law, and the accu- 
sations against them are false." 

A considerable portion of the Nihilist literature that is circulated in 
Russia is said to be printed at Geneva. It is introduced into the empire 
in various ways, and as fast as one channel of introduction is discovered 
and closed another is opened. Other cities of Switzerland are the abodes 
of Nihilists, and there is a considerable number of them in Paris. The 
recent friendliness of Russia and France has operated unfavorably for 
the Nihilists in Paris, and some of them have been compelled to move 
to places where they are less closely watched than in the capital. 

The number of Russian refugees at Geneva varies considerably from 
time to time, being influenced by the activity of the revolutionists in 
Russia, and by the leniency or severity of the French authorities. They 
vehemently declare that they have no revolutionary organization in 
Geneva, Paris, Zurich, or any other city where they congregate, as such 
an organization would bring them in conflict with the local laws con- 
cerning conspiracy. It is pretty certain that their acts, meetings, and 
correspondence are the subject of a great deal of falsehood, and are rep- 
resented as many times worse than is really the case. The great num- 
ber of spies maintained by the Russian Government is responsible for 
most of the stories of Nihilist conspiracies. / The spies are obliged to 
make a pretence of activity for fear of losing their employment, and 
hence they are forced to invent treasonable plots against the Czar and 
his Government, and send long accounts of Nihilist meetings that never 
took place. 



THE SUBURBS OF GENEVA. 



283 



mkm 



After inspecting the city to their satisfaction, our friends turned their 
attention to its suburbs and the points of interest in the imniediate 
neighborhood. Their eyes had already been attracted to the villas that 
studded both banks of the lake, and 

Mrs. Bassett had eagerly asked to ^--^^^^^^^^^te\ 

whom they belonged. xllll ^Bllk 

" The list is too long for me to 
remember," said Frank. " We will 
engage a carriage and take a drive 
along the shore, so that we can see 
the villas in detail, and visit such as 
are open to the public." 

The carriage was taken accord- 
ingly, the driver arranging to act as 
guide and point out the objects of 
interest. One after another he 
named the most important of the 
villas along the route, including the 
one formerly occupied by the Em- 
press Josephine, the villa of the 
Countess Gasparin, and the Yilla 
Tronchin, which was once the prop- 
erty of Voltaire. Most of the time 
our friends were in sight of the 

lake, and now and then they had a fine view of the snowy tops of 
Mont Blanc and his fellow-mountains, fifty miles away. 

When they reached the boundary between France and Switzerland 
the driver paused a few moments to narrate an incident in his expe- 
rience in showing strangers about. 

" One day a gentleman, a stranger in Geneva, engaged me for a 
drive, and said he wanted to see all the sights in the neighborhood. 
I drove him around the city, and then came out by this road, pointing 
out the villas, and giving him the names of the various mountains that 
were in sight. He seemed very much interested, and when we crossed 
the frontier he was talking about something, so that I did not have an 
opportunity to tell him we were at the border. 

" We were in France half a mile or so before I told him where we 
were. Then he sprang to his feet, turned pale as a ghost, and in a voice 
that was trembling quite as much as his body was shaking all over, told 
me to drive back to Geneva as quickly as I could. 




284 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Of course I did as he told me and put my horses to the gallop, and 
when I crossed the boundary, and was once more on Swiss soil, I vent- 
ured to look around. There was my gentleman almost in a faint. 
When I told him he was safe the color came back to his face, and he 
did not tremble so much, but he didn't want any more sight-seeing in 
the environs of Geneva for that day at least." 

The individual thus described was a noted, or rather a notorious, 
Frenchman, who had been in a condition of hostility to the French 
Government for the past thirty years ; whether imperial or republican, 
has made no difference in the character of his hostility. After his es- 
cape from New Caledonia, whither he was banished, he took up his res- 
idence in Geneva, in order to be as near as possible to Paris, and at the 
same time safe from arrest. 

Our friends reached Ferney, which owes its existence to Yoltaire. 
He bought the land about 1760, invited colonists there, and built facto- 
ries and a handsome residence for himself. He also built a church for 
the use of the colonists who settled in the neighborhood, and would not 
be likely to remain unless they had suitable religious privileges. 

" It is said that in Voltaire's time," Frank remarked, " the village 
of Ferney had more than a thousand inhabitants ; now there are little 
more than one-third that number. The church is not regularly used for 
religious worship, and for some years it was occupied as a farm-house." 

" Can we see the house where Voltaire lived ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" I believe it can be seen in the absence of the owner," was the reply. 
" The driver can tell us whether we can view it." 

That worthy said they would be permitted to inspect a portion of 
the house, and see relics of the man who used to entertain kings, em- 
perors, grand-dukes, and other great personages. 

" "We were shown through some of the rooms of the chateau," said 
Fred, " including Voltaire's bedroom and study. The pictures on the 
walls were there in his time, and we specially observed that there were 
two engravings in good condition, one representing Washington and the 
other Franklin. Near them is a portrait of Catherine II., Empress of 
Eussia, and there is an inscription on it which shows it to have been 
painted by order of the Empress as a present to the philosopher. There 
is also a bronze bust of the Empress in the same room, while in the other 
is a great stove which was a present from Frederick the Great. There 
are portraits and landscapes on the walls of the study, but there is no 
landscape which equals the view from the garden just behind the study, 
to which we were shown after our inspection of the rooms was com- 



CHAT ABOUT VOLTAIRE. 



285 



pleted. This view includes Mont Blanc and Lake Leman, and in the 
garden we saw an arbor where Yoltaire did much of his writing during 
the twenty years that he lived here and kept open house." 

Mrs. Bassett naturally asked for what Yoltaire was most famous. 
Fred replied that it was difficult to name any one thing in which he 
was more famous than in all others. He wrote nearly everything — 
plays, poems, histories, novels, and essays upon all sorts of subjects. 
Most of his novels had usually some doctrinal object — social, political, 
religious, or scientific— and he never hesitated to discuss any subject, 
no matter what, that was brought to his attention. 

" The worst thing I ever read or heard about him," said Mrs. Bas- 
sett, "is that he was an atheist. Was he really an unbeliever in the 
existence of a Deity or any overruling power ?" 

" His biographers claim that he was not in any sense an atheist," 
was the reply, " and they point to many passages in his later works to 




toltaire's house at ferney. 



prove the correctness of their assertion. In his earlier writings it was 
his custom to sneer at religion, and at everything else which right- 
minded people hold in reverence, and it is from these writings that he 
has been classed as an atheist. He had a great influence upon the lit- 
erature of his time, and it is pretty certain that the evil part of it is 
remembered more than is the good." 

" He was a good financier," said Frank, as Fred paused, " and his 



286 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

fortune may be said to have come from misfortune. He was so badly- 
treated in Paris that he went to England to live for a few years. He 
became a favorite at the English court, and wrote a poem which he 
dedicated to the Queen. The royal lady subscribed for the poem, and 
everybody about the court followed her example, so that Yoltaire made 
forty thousand dollars by the publication of his work. He returned to 
Paris not long afterwards and engaged in several lucky speculations, 
out of which he made so much money that he soon had an income of 
thirty thousand dollars a year." 

"I have read somewhere that he was a very generous man," said 
Mrs. Bassett. " Was that really the case ?" 

" In his younger days he spent money recklessly and was often in 
debt ; in the latter part of his life he was more careful of his income, 
though he was not at all economical. Many stories are told of his char- 
ity, and this village of Ferney is an instance of his gifts to the people. 
Once he learned that a young girl who was descended from the ' Grand 
Corneille ' was living in poverty. He at once sent for her to come to 
Ferney, where he provided her with teachers and gave her a good edu- 
cation, and at the time of his death he settled upon her a life annuity of 
fourteen hundred francs. 

" He never failed to denounce acts of cruelty and oppression, no 
matter where they occurred. When the English executed Admiral 
Byng because he was unable, with the small fleet at his command, to 
destroy a French fleet more powerful than his own, Yoltaire was out- 
spoken and earnest in defence of the unfortunate admiral, who was 
sacrificed in order to shield the British ministers from public odium. 
Another instance of the same sort was that of Jean Calas, who was exe- 
cuted for a crime of which he was innocent. Yoltaire devoted much 
time and effort to securing a reversal of the sentence and a partial in- 
demnity to the family ; and though he tried very hard to have the per- 
secutors of poor Calas punished, he was unable to bring them to justice." 

" I have read somewhere that his name wasn't Yoltaire," said Mary. 

" That is quite true," replied Frank ; " his real name was Fran§ois 
Marie Arouet, and he was the son of a French notary. The name by 
which he is known was an assumed one which he made up himself. 

" You have already heard," Frank continued, " that he disliked Ge- 
neva and its people. Some of his sarcastic sayings concerning them 
have been preserved ; the most celebrated is the one in allusion to the 
smallness of the country : ' When I shake my wig I powder the whole 
republic' The Emperor Paul, of Russia, rivalled the wit of Yoltaire 



ON LAKE LEMAK 



287 




CHURCH BUILT BY TOLTAIEE. 



when he said, 'It is a tempest in a glass of water,' in reference to a 
threatened revolution in Geneva." 

A drive was taken along the southern shore of the lake as far as the 
Villa Deodati, which was once occupied by Lord Byron. Other places 
of interest were visited, and then our friends arranged to proceed by 
steamboat to the other end of the lake. 

" If our boat should happen to sink under us," said Mary, " we need 
not hope to be able to walk ashore. I have just been reading that the 
lake is 1200 feet deep in its deepest part, and from 300 to 500 feet in 
many places." 

" How long and wide is it 2" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

"It is fifty-five miles long," Mary answered, "and in its broadest 
part is nine miles across." 

" I wonder if there is any good fishing in the lake 2" Fred remarked. 

" I asked one of the boatmen about it," said Mary, " and he told me 
the fishing was not what English and Americans would call good. He 
said there were about twenty different kinds of fish in the lake, but none 
of them were such as sportsmen like to take." 



288 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Then we won't go a-fishing," Fred replied. " I wonder some enter- 
prising speculator doesn't come here with a proposal to stock the lake 
with fish, just as some English and American lakes have been stocked." 

"The scheme has been considered more than once," said Frank, "but 
the experiment has not been made, for the reason that there is little in 
the lake on which the fish could feed. As well try to raise cattle in a 
desert as to make fish thrive where there is nothing for them to eat." 

Fred had nothing more to say on the subject of stocking Lake Le- 
man with fish, but called attention to a lateen -rigged sailboat which 
was ploughing the water a mile or more from them. 

" We can imagine we are on the Mediterranean," said Fred, " as 
these graceful sails belong to that body of water, and are seen nowhere 




STEAMBOAT ON LAKE LEMAN. 



THE FAMOUS BONNIVARD. 



289 




jborwvwYV 



else in the world except on the Al- 
pine lakes. Even here they are dis- 
appearing as well as on the Med- 
iterranean, since the steamboat has 
obtained almost a monopoly of the 
carrying trade." 

" This boat has a historic name," 
said Frank, as soon as they were on 
board the steamer that was to carry 
them over the blue waters of Lake 
Leman. 

"What is it called?" Mary asked. 
"I might have seen the name as I 
came on board, but was too busy with 
the contemplation of the crowd on 
the quay to notice it." 

" She is called Bonnivard," Frank 
replied. " You know who Bonnivard 
was, do you not ?" 

" Certainly," Mary answered ; " he was the celebrated prisoner of 
Chillon, who wore away the stone on the floor of his prison where he 
was for years chained to a pillar." 

" What can you tell about him ?" 

"He was born at Seyssel in 1493, and was brought up with his 
uncle, who was the prior of St. Yictor, just outside the old walls of 
Geneva. He inherited the priory at his uncle's death, but from his six- 
teenth year he sympathized with the people of Geneva in their strug- 
gles with the Duke of Savoy. When he was twenty-six years old he 
fell into the hands of the duke, and kept in prison for two years ; after 
this he was more earnest in the cause of the Reformation. His second 
imprisonment was at the castle of Chillon, and lasted for six years. I'll 
tell you more about it when we see the castle. He died at Geneva, 
where he spent the latter part of his life. He gave his library to the 
city, and it was the nucleus of the present public library of Geneva." 

" A very good story, and well told," said Fred. Mrs. Bassett smiled 
with satisfaction at the success of her daughter in adding to the interest 
of their journey by delving into the history of the countries and places 
that they visited. Fred also complimented Mary on her knowledge of 
the story of Byron's " Prisoner of Chillon," and said he would certainly 
call upon her for the rest of it when they arrived at the historic prison, 

19 



290 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



As the steamer moved along her course near the northern bank of 
the lake, Frank called the attention of his mother and sister to the 
various points of interest. 

" This is Yersoix," said Frank, as the steamer reached that attract- 
ive-looking place. "It was formerly in French territory, and it is said 
that Choiseul, the Minister of Louis XV., hated Geneva so bitterly that 
he determined to found a rival city at Versoix, and thus destroy the old 
one by turning all the French trade to the new place. The city was 
actually laid out, and maps were printed showing the streets, but the 
public did not come forward to buy the lots and the speculation failed." 

" It was just like many a real estate speculation of the present day," 
said Mrs. Bassett. " If a historian of this part of the world wishes for 
modern examples, he could find enough of them in the United States." 

" And he need not go farther than the neighborhood of New York 
and Boston to find them," Frank remarked. 

There was further conversation on the subject of town sites and 
speculations ; then the beauty of the shore of Lake Leman, the won- 
derful blue of the water, the view of the range of the Alps and of the 




btron's tilla, deodati. 



NECKER AND HIS FAMOUS DAUGHTER. 



291 



mountains that lay nearer to the lake absorbed the attention of the 
travellers. So intent were they upon it that they almost missed seeing 
Coppet, which was once the home of Keeker, the famous banker of 
Paris, who became Minister of Finance under Louis XVI. 

" I read about Keeker," said Mary. " He was the father of Madame 
de Stael, who was the first literary woman of the time in which she 
lived. She lived a long time at Cop- 
pet, and died in 1817, thirteen years 
after her father's death. Both of 
them are buried in the chapel which 
is in that clump of trees just west of 
the castle. 

" She was one of the women who 
made the salon famous in Paris," the 
girl continued. " She returned from 
Switzerland to Paris in 1797, and was 
bitterly opposed to Napoleon I. Her 
salon was the resort of his oppo- 
nents, and the Emperor tried to 
bribe her by offering to pay a large 
sum of money which had long been 
due her father on the condition that 
she would cease her opposition. She 
indignantly refused his offer, and was 
thereupon expelled from Paris and 
afterwards from France." 

"What a brute the Emperor must have been, and what a coward, 
too," exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, " to be afraid of a woman, and drive her 
from the country !" 

" He may have been a brute," replied Frank ; " but, after all, he only 
acted prudently. Madame de Stael was a woman of great influence 
and of unusual abilities. She would make no terms with Napoleon, 
openly announced her distrust and detestation of him, undermined his 
power in every way that was open to her, and was altogether objection- 
able from an emperor's point of view." 

" I didn't think of that," said Mrs. Bassett, as Frank paused. " Well, 
after all, Napoleon paid a great compliment to women when he ac- 
knowledged, by driving this lady out of France, that he was afraid of 
one of them." 

The steamer passed Nyon and Kolle and Morges, each of which 




MADAME DE STAEL. 



292 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



was pointed out by Frank with whatever comment he considered es- 
sential. As they approached Ouchy, Frank said the place had a literary 
importance, as it was there, in the Anchor Hotel, that Byron wrote one 
of his famous poems, " The Prisoner of Chillon." 

" That is the poem we were talking about a little while ago," said Mary. 
" Yes," responded Frank, " and it is probable that a considerable 
part of the third canto of ' Childe Harold ' was written in the same 
place, or at the Villa Deodati, which you already know of. Byron 
spent about a year in the vicinity of Geneva. He was greatly charmed 
with the lake, and it is mentioned quite often in the poetry that he 
composed while in this region." 

" There is more literary interest here," said Fred, " than what you 
have just mentioned. Do you see that picturesque town on the hill 
above Ouchy?" 

Of course it was visible to all, and they promptly said so. 
"Well," continued Fred, addressing himself more particularly to 
Mrs. Bassett and Mary than to his cousin Frank, " up there is Lausanne, 
which stands on the site of the Roman Lausonium ; the principal hotel 
there is the Gibbon, and it takes its name from the famous historian 
who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It was in 

the garden in the 
rear of the hotel 
that the closing 
lines of the great 
history were writ- 
ten." 

"How long 
was he occupied 
with the histo- 
ry?" Mrs. Bassett 
asked. 

" He began it 
in 1764c, or soon 
after," said Fred, 
" and completed 
it in June, 1787. 
Consequently, he was occupied with it for more than twenty years." 

" No wonder it was a very important event for him when he wrote 
the closing lines. And the history has been a very important work for 
the world, has it not ?" 




LAUSANNE. 



AN ANECDOTE OF GIBBON. 



293 




VILLA OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



" Some of the critics have pronounced it the most important literary 
work of modern times. One writer says it is ' the greatest achievement 
of human thought and erudition in the department of history ;' another 
says, ' it is virtually a history of the world for thirteen centuries, dur- 
ing which paganism was breaking down and Christianity was supersed- 
ing it.' " 

Then Fred told a story about Gibbon which brought a smile to the 
faces of his friends. According »to the anecdote Gibbon was a great 
"ladies' man," and paid court to all the beauties whom he met. In 
the latter part of his life he was very stout, and one day when he 
was declaring his admiration for one of the belles of Lausanne he fell 
on his knees before her. She ordered him to rise, and he endeavored 
to obey, but could not on account of his weight. The lady was obliged 
to ring a bell and summon the servants to set the illustrious historian 
upon his feet once more. 



294 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

VEVAY.— GRAVES OF THE REGICIDES. — SCENES IN THE MARKET.— MARY'S NEW 
HAT.— WINE-MAKING IN CANTON YAUD.— GATHERING THE GRAPES— WINE- 
PRESSING.— THE GREAT TUN.— CEREMONIAL FESTIVAL IN GOOD SEASONS.— SE- 
LECTION OF BACCHUS.— HAUTEVILLE AND BLONAY.— CASTLES FOR RENT.— 
GHOSTS FREE OF CHARGE.— LEGENDS OF THE CASTLE.— HOW A LOVER WON A 
BRIDE.— HISTORY OF CANTON VAUD.— LOUIS AGASSIZ.— EXCURSION TO CHILLON. 
—POETICAL RECITATIONS.— THE POET'S LICENSE.— CLARENS AND MONTREUX.— 
FACTS CONCERNING BONNIVARD AND HIS FAMILY.— THE DUNGEON OF SEVEN 
PILLARS. 



OUR friends left the steamer at Vevay. Frank had telegraphed for 
rooms at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes (Three Crowns Hotel), 
which is close to the landing-place, and has a fine view of the lake and 

the mountains beyond it. The dis- 
tance from Yevay to the eastern 
end of the lake is only a few miles, 
and the mountains form a semicircle 
which seems to shut out all possibil- 
ity of travel beyond them. Yevay 
and its vicinity are a favorite resort 
of English and Americans, and the 
hotels and boarding-houses scat- 
tered through this region are in 
great number and suited to all va- 
rieties of purse. The hotel tariffs 
are highest in summer, when the 
travel is greatest ; with the coming 
))A\1l¥i/^^K : ^^^i^i " - f autumn the hotels are turned 

into pensions (boarding-houses), and 
the prices are greatly reduced from 
the summer figures. 

Several days were passed here 
very pleasantly. There were drives 
through the surrounding country, 




SWISS RAILWAY SERVANT. 



LIFE AT VEVAY. 295 

visits to old churches and chateaux, and a glance at the vineyards, 
which are numerous and productive. 

Mrs. Bassett was particularly interested in the Church of St. Martin, 
which is said to have been erected in 1498, and contains the tombs of 
the regicides, Ludlow and Broughton. According to history, Broughton 
was the one who read the sentence of death to King Charles I. of Eng- 
land. As to Ludlow, it is said that his republicanism was of the purest 
kind, and that he opposed with great earnestness the ambitious schemes 
of Oliver Cromwell. On the restoration of Charles II. to the throne 
the extradition of the two refugees was demanded, but the Swiss Gov- 
ernment refused to surrender them. Charles sent an assassin who killed 
one of them, but left the other to die peacefully in bed. 

After the church had been duly inspected our friends strolled to and 
through the market-place, which Fred described as abounding in quaint 
sights. Provisions are sold under a roof, which is supported on pillars. 
The market building is open on all sides to the winds, which are pleasant 
enough in summer, but not always agreeable in autumn and winter. 
But the building is not sufficient for all the business of the place, and a 
considerable amount of dealing goes on under the tents, or beneath the 
trees outside, or even without any sort of protection. Some of the 
farmers who have come to the market dispose of their goods directly 
from their wagons, but they do not succeed in evading the tax which is 
levied on all sales, and these are carefully watched by the guardians of 
the market. 

Mrs. Bassett and her daughter were interested in looking at the cos- 
tumes of the women in the market-place. Some of them were quite pict- 
uresque, but for the most part they seemed a reproduction of what they 
had seen under similar circumstances in France and Germany. Most of 
the women wore straw hats to shield them from" the sun. Mary saw 
some hats for sale in the market, and was surprised to find that the price 
was only half a franc (ten cents). She bought one in haste, lest the 
price should be advanced, and carried her purchase home in triumph. 
Afterwards she trimmed it with a few bright ribbons, which she un- 
earthed from the recesses of her trunk, and made a head-covering of 
which she was quite proud. "And to think," said she, "that it cost 
only ten cents for the hat and forty cents for the ribbons ! I shall take 
it home to America, and it will certainly rouse the envy of some of my 
friends." 

" We were too early for the vintage," said Mary, in her account of 
their stay at Yevay, " but we had an excellent opportunity to see the 



296 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




MARKET-PLACE AT VEVAT. 



vineyards, and we bought in the market some of the early varieties of 
grapes. In the season when the grapes are ripe on the vines and the 
vintage is in progress there is a good deal of activity all along this part 
of the shore of the lake. The day for the commencement of the vin- 
tage is fixed by the authorities of each commune, and nobody is allowed 
to gather any grapes before that time except for eating purposes, and, 
on the other hand, he is not permitted to put off his part of the work till 
a later date. It seemed to me that this was a very severe regulation, 
but Frank explains it in this way : 

" ' A great deal of the labor of the vintage is performed in common. 
The owner of every little patch of grapes cannot afford to have presses 
and vats of his own, and so the grapes are " pooled " (as an American 
speculator would say), the work is performed by all parties concerned, 
and the wine is divided according to the amount of grapes and labor 
that each one has contributed.' 




GATHERING GRAPES NEAR TEVAY. 



29 S THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

"Mamma says the same thing is done in some parts of the New 
England States, where the people in a neighborhood put their apples 
into a similar ' pool ' for the purpose of making cider. The custom is 
said to be a very ancient one here — in fact, most of the customs con- 
nected with the vintage are very old, some of them dating as far back 
as the time of the Romans ; and, speaking of the Romans, reminds me 
of something that I heard to-day. 

" Here at Yevay they have a custom, when the yield of wine has 
been unusually good, of making a grand celebration, that is said to have 
originated in the time when the Romans had possession of the country. 
Unfortunately for the festival, the vintage is rarely up to the standard 
that induces the owners of the vineyards to celebrate it, and certainly 
there is no prospect of one this season. It would take too much space to 
tell all about it, and, besides, I have no good description of the festival to 
refer to. The preparations are very elaborate. The great feature of the 
affair is a grand procession, in which numerous characters of mythology 
are represented. The largest and fattest man in the community is se- 
lected to represent the god Bacchus, and sometimes when there is no- 
body among the wine-makers who can properly represent the character 
they send somewhere else and hire a suitable person. 

" The festival costs a considerable amount of money, and the hotel- 
keepers contribute freely to it, as it brings them a large amount of busi- 
ness. At the last celebration of this sort it is said that fifty thousand 
people came to Yevay to attend it. 

" "We saw one of the wine-presses' that they use here ; it was a prim- 
itive affair, and made me think of the old cider-mill which I saw up in 
New Hampshire the last time I was there. The grapes are cut from 
the vines, and the bunches are thrown into shallow tubs, where they are 
crushed and broken by pestles in the hands of strong men or women. 
Then these tubs are carried to wagons containing large casks, and the 
contents are poured into these casks and driven off to the village, where 
the wine-press is ready for its work. The wine-press is like a great tub, 
without top or bottom ; there are cracks between the staves of the tub, 
and its contents rest on a large stone or block of wood. An iron screw 
forces clown the top of the press ; the screw is turned by means of a 
horizontal bar to which a rope is attached, and this rope is wound around 
an upright post that is turned by men pushing against handles like those 
of a turnstile, and they have to push very hard. 

" A tub catches the juice which runs from the press, and this juice is 
carried away to the cellars, where it is placed in great tuns to be fer- 



I h- 







300 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

merited. We went into a cellar and saw some of these tuns, but though 
they are very large they are no comparison to the Great Tun of Heidel- 
berg that you've heard about. The Heidelberg tun is 36 feet long and 
24 feet high, and is said to have a capacity of 800 hogsheads. But you 
shouldn't expect to find anything approaching that size in this country, 
as Switzerland is very much smaller than Germany. 

" Some of the enterprising wine-makers have introduced the Ameri- 
can wine -press, which is claimed to be more economical than the old- 
fashioned one, but the people here are slow to adopt new ideas, and the 
American innovation is not popular. 

" The new wine, before it is fermented, is sold in the restaurants 
and wine - shops ; it holds the same relation to the wine of commerce 
that sweet cider does to the manufactured and bottled article. They 
get two or three grades of juice from the grapes, and these grades are 
kept carefully apart from each other. The first grade is that which 
runs from the broken grapes before they have been pressed ; the second 
is that which is brought out by the press ; and the third is what is se- 
cured when the grape cake is shaken up for a second pressure and 
moistened with water. There is plenty of water in the lake, and the 
wine-makers have no occasion to be economical in using it ; the result is 
that the third grade of wine is usually of a very watery character, and 
Frank says it might be warranted to do no harm to one who doesn't 
drink it or look upon it when it is red. 

" In seasons when grapes are plenty the owner of a vineyard will 
permit a stranger to eat all he may desire on payment of half a franc, 
provided the stranger does his own picking. But it will not do to take 
a single grape without permission, as there is a heavy fine provided by 
law for all trespassing of this sort. Probably the law was passed from 
necessity, and to protect the owners of the vineyards from the depreda- 
tions of small boys and others. A gentleman who spent several weeks 
here says that when boys pass through a vineyard the watchers require 
them to hold their hands high in air as proof that they are not help- 
ing themselves. They tell a story of a boy who whittled a false arm 
and hand out of wood, so that he could walk through a vineyard and 
keep the word of promise to the eye while he broke it to the hope. 

" Yesterday Frank suggested that we would visit a castle. I thought 
he said Blarney Castle, and told him we saw that when we were in Ire- 
land, and, furthermore, I didn't believe the Swiss had ever heard the 
word ' blarney' in their lives. He then said it was Blonay and not Blar- 
ney of which he was speaking, and that the property had been in the 



BLONAY CASTLE. 



301 



possession of the family of that name ever since the time of the Cru- 
sades, with the exception of occasional intervals when they were driven 
out in consequence of war and had to go elsewhere. 

" Of course we were willing enough to see the castle, and were ready 
when he gave the signal to start for the excursion. 

" We had a delightful drive of about four miles before we reached 
Blonay. We stopped on the way to see the chateau of Hauteville, which 
has a fine park around it, and gave us a charming and extensive view of 
the country and the lake and the mountains in the distance. Blonay is 
higher up than Hauteville. It is in very good condition — so good, in 
fact, that the family lived there until quite recently, and of late years 
has rented it out to any one willing to hire it. * 

" It is now without a tenant, and the man in charge of it was anx- 
ious to know at once whether we had come with a view to renting the 
chateau or were merely attracted by curiosity. We disappointed him, 
perhaps, when we told him we were not looking for lodgings, but Frank 
consoled him with a liberal fee for showing us around. 



<^y€^ 




fy*- 



EATING GRAPES. 



302 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" It would be very romantic, no doubt, to live in a castle, but after 
what I saw of the place I should prefer a modern house in Paris or 
New York. It would be very lonesome there unless there was a very 
large family to occupy it. I wouldn't care to sit down with two or 
three others to breakfast in the great round dining-room, or to dine 
there unless we were at least fifteen or twenty at table. The corridors 
where the sleeping-rooms are echo to your footfalls. The rooms are so 
large, the most of them, that the ordinary amount of furniture for a 
sleeping-room seems very lonesome, and just enough to make one wish 
for more. Some of the furniture is very old — perhaps five or six cen- 
turies — and some is of the present time. Frank says there are speci- 
mens of furniture from every period since the Crusades, and some of 
even earlier date ; and I'm sure he's not far out of the way. 

" In one room there was a couch that was made long before the 
birth of Columbus, and on the other side of the room was a modern bed 
with a spring mattress. How it would astonish some of the tenants of 
this place during the Crusades if they could revisit the castle and in- 
spect its belongings as they now are ! 

"And this reminds me that the castle is said to be haunted by 
ghosts — at least, that's what the driver of the carriage told us, though 
the custodian of the place denied that there was ever a ghost in the 
place. Haunted houses are not in demand here any more than in other 
parts of the world, and the custodian knew that, even though the place 
might be crammed full of spooks, he must never admit the existence of 
anything of the kind. We kept a sharp eye out for disembodied spirits, 
but saw none. While we were in the lower rooms I saw a pair of eyes 
staring in the gloom, and thought we had come at last on one of the 
ghostly inhabitants. I called Frank's attention to the eyes, and he 
stopped and asked the custodian about them. 

" ' That is no ghost,' he said ; ' it's only a cat that wanders about 
the place night and day, and keeps it clear from rats.' 

" Of course the castle has had its share of sieges and captures. 
Once it was saved by the quickness of a girl, who saw some soldiers 
approaching the place just at dusk in a time of profound peace. They 
had landed from the Savoy side of the lake early in the morning and 
lain concealed during the day. Their object was to take the castle by 
surprise ; and they would have done so but for the girl, who shrewdly 
surmised that their intentions were hostile. She called out to the man 
on watch to close the gate instantly, which he did. The would-be as- 
sailants revenged themselves by carrying the girl with them in their 



304 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

retreat, but as soon as they reached their commander he ordered her 
release, and praised her for her devotion to her master, the Baron of 
Blonay. 

" We heard another story which is quite romantic, though not by 
any means unlike other stories that have come down to us from antiq- 
uity. You will doubtless surmise that it is a love-story, and your sur- 
mise is correct. Here it is : 

" Two hundred years ago there was in the castle the beautiful Mc- 
olaide de Blonay, the daughter of the baron who was then in power. 
The lady was so beautiful and rich that she attracted admirers from all 
the country around, but she turned a deaf ear and blind eye to all of 
them, with the exception of one Tavel de Yillars ; and even he was 
obliged to propose several times before he was accepted. He was a 
military gentleman, and just after he had been accepted he was called 
away to service in the army of France. 

" The fair lady had another suitor, and he improved the opportunity 
to press his suit during his rival's absence. His name was Jean Fran- 
cois de Blonay. He belonged to the Savoyard branch of the family, and 
was a cousin of the lady whose hand he sought. He made two appeals 
to her, but both times in vain, as she refused him, just as the fair lady 
usually does in stories of this kind. But he determined that she should 
be his bride, and so he assembled his friends and followers and concealed 
himself with them in the neighborhood of the castle. They waited pa- 
tiently for several days until the baron had occasion to go away to 
hunt game, visit a neighboring castle, or attend a political caucus. Then 
they passed through the gate, sought the fair Nicolai'de, and carried her 
away to Savoy, where she soon became the wife of the man who had 
so zealously sought and captured her. 

" The story does not end here. The once-accepted suitor, Tavel de 
Yillars, came back from the wars, and was not at all pleased to find that 
the lady was his no longer. Then arose a bitter quarrel between the 
families of Tavel and Blonay ; and it became so great a quarrel that the 
French and Italian ambassadors took part in it. The influence of these 
foreign representatives was so powerful that they induced the Swiss 
Government to pronounce a sentence against the Blonay s, in which the 
old baron was severely censured for permitting his daughter to be car- 
ried away in the manner described. The sentence also included the 
runaways, but as they were living in Savoy, which was out of the Swiss 
jurisdiction, they were not at all troubled by it. 
. "There; I think I've done pretty well in writing about Yevay and 



CANTON VAUD. 



305 



its neighborhood. I've read these pages over to Frank, and he says 
they are all right, and if he had not known they were mine he would 
have supposed Fred wrote them. That's praise enough for me ; but it's 
just possible Fred may not appreciate the compliment as I do." 

Mary omitted to mention that Yevay is in Canton Yaud, which is 




A GROUP OF TAUDOIS. 



one of the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland, the language being 
known as the Yaudois dialect. The religion is Protestant, and the Gov- 
ernment is much like that of Geneva, every citizen twenty-three years 
of age having the right to vote. Yaud was a prosperous region in the 
time of the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire it became a 
part of the kingdom of Burgundy, and later on it was for a long time a 
dependency of Savoy. In 1536 it fell under the control of the Govern- 
ment at Berne, which held it until the French invasion at the end of the 
last century. The Berne Government ruled the Yaud district through 
its aristocracy, the common people having very little power. The aris- 
tocratic rule continued till 1830, when a mob assembled at Lausanne, 

20 



306 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the capital of the canton, and compelled the granting of a liberal char- 
ter, by which every respectable citizen became entitled to a vote. 

While investigating this subject Frank learned that the elections 
were always held on Sunday, through fear that the people would not 
leave their employments and give attention to politics on any working- 
day of the week. This speaks well for the industry of the Swiss, and 
the Yaudois are certainly among the most industrious of the people of 
this little republic. Frank also learned that they are so well educated 
that they send out great numbers of teachers and governesses, who are 
found in all parts of the civilized world. 

" Apropos of this," said Fred, " the great naturalist, Louis Agassiz, 
of whom America is so justly proud, was a native of this canton. Did 
you ever see or hear the lines which were read at the dinner given to 
Agassiz on his fiftieth birthday ? I may not give them correctly, as I 
quote from memory : 

"It was fifty years ago, 

Iu the pleasant month of May, 
In the beautiful Pays de Vaud, 
A child in its cradle lay. 

"And Nature, the old nurse, took 
The child upon her knee, 
Saying, 'Here is a story-book 
Thy father made for thee.'" 

" Yes," replied Frank ; " I recall the lines, which contain a bit of 
' poetic license.' Agassiz was born at Motiers Travers, in Canton Fri- 
bourg, May 28, 1807, and he was the son of a Protestant clergyman, 
whose forefathers for six generations had held the position of pastor 
of the Protestant parish of Motiers Travers. His mother was the 
daughter of a physician residing at Cudrefin, in Canton Yaud, and this 
was sufficient to justify the poet in locating the child's cradle in the 
canton that was its mother's old home. You see, Fribourg isn't a good 
word to use in poetry ; it doesn't rhyme well, while Yaud rhymes with 
go, hoe, blow, crow, dough, woe — " 

" Stop ! stop !" exclaimed Fred ; " there are probably fifty words 
that rhyme with Yaud, and we don't want to hear them all just yet. 
Tell us more about Professor Agassiz." 

" Yery early in his youth he became interested in natural science, 
and began to collect specimens. His first collection of fishes dates from 
his school-days at Biel, where he was sent when ten years old to be 



CHAT ABOUT AGASSIZ. 



307 



educated. He studied medicine at the earnest wish of his parents, and 
received the degree of Doctor of Medicine when he was twenty-two 
years old. Meantime he had given much attention to natural science, 
especially to icthyology, and he published, during his twenty-first year, 
a volume describing the fishes that had been brought from Brazil by a 
German scientific expedition. 

" He spent two years in Paris, and then became Professor of Natural 
History in the college at Neufchatel, where he remained until he came 
to the United States in 1846. During that period he published several 
volumes concerning the fossil fishes of the world, and at the same time 
made observations on the glaciers of Switzerland, which were published 
in two volumes, and were the first careful studies of the glaciers that 
had ever been made. He went to 
the United States in 1846 on a visit, 
which was intended to be of a few 
months only, but he was so warmly 
received that he determined to make 
the "Western Hemisphere his home. 
For an account of his career in 
America you have only to ask any 
man of science, or any one who has 
been a student in Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts, for the last fifty years. 
Cambridge and its near neighbor, 
Boston, hold the great scientist in 
affectionate memory, and never fail 
to sound his praises when the occa- 
sion offers." 

The Castle of Chillon is some six 
or eight miles to the east of Yevay, 
and was one of the sights which 
our friends had placed on their list. 

One morning there was a gentle breeze from the west, and Frank pro- 
posed that they should take advantage of it to make their excursion to 
Chillon and its immediate neighborhood. 

"We will go by sailboat," said he, " and will have an easy run before 
the wind. Then we will let the boatman take us to Yilleneuve, a mile 
and a half farther on, and from Yilleneuve we can return by train to 
Yevay and be back by dinner-time." 

" Do you know," said Mary, " that I was going to propose that very 




LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



308 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

scheme — boat, Yilleneuve, train, and all. I thought of it as soon as I 
looked out of the window and saw that the wind was from the west." 

" It's a trite saying that great minds think alike," Fred remarked, 
seeing that Frank hesitated in his reply to Mary's suggestion. " I con- 
fess that I didn't think of it at all, as I was busy about something 
else, and laying plans for our next move." 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary equipped themselves with veils and parasols 
to protect their faces from the effect of the sun on the water, but the 
boys did not take any trouble of that sort, as they did not mind a little 
blistering of their faces in the cause of sight-seeing on Lake Leman. 
The party had a very pleasant sail of an hour and more, the boat 
hugging the shore, by Frank's direction, so as to give them a view of 
Clarens and Montreux, which are the favorite resorts of a great many 
English and American visitors to Switzerland, especially of those mak- 
ing a prolonged stay. 

As they sailed along over the waters which have been the theme of 
poets for many centuries, Fred repeated the well-known lines of Byron, 
in the third canto of " Childe Harold :" 

"Clear, placid Leman! thy contrasted lake, 

With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing 

Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake 

Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring. 

This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing 

To waft me from distraction; once I loved 

Torn ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuring 

Sounds sweet as if a Sister's voice reproved, 
Tbat I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved." 

As they passed Clarens, Frank recalled the lines, also of Byron, that 
describe the spot which Rousseau had made famous in one of his stories : 

"Clarens! sweet Clarens, birthplace of deep Love, 

Thine air is the young breath of passionate thought, 

Thy trees take root in Love ; the snows above 

The very Glaciers have his colors caught, 

And sunset into rose-hues sees them wrought 

By rays which sleep there lovingly: the rocks, 

The permanent crags, tell here of Love, who sought 

In them a refuge from the worldly shocks, 
Which stir and sting the soul with hope that woos, then mocks." 

" I must contribute something to the poetry of the occasion," said 
Mary. " What shall it be ?" 



BYRON'S SONNET ON CHILLON. 



309 



/•N ^/V\^, S^ /*Vts 




A FIELD NEAR CLARENS. 



" We are approaching the Castle of Chillon, and will soon be there," 
said Frank. " Can you repeat Byron's sonnet on Chillon ?" 

" Certainly I can — or, at any rate, I believe so. Please correct me if 
I make a mistake in any of the lines : 

"'Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind! 

Brightest in dungeons, Liberty ! thou art, 

For there thy habitation is the heart — 
The heart which love of thee alone can bind; 
And when thy sons to fetters are consigned — 

To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom, 

Their country conquers with their martyrdom, 
And Freedom's fame finds wings on every wind. 
Chillon ! thy prison is a holy place, 

And thy sad floor an altar — for 'twas trod, 



310 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Until his very steps have left a trace 
Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod. 

By Bonnivard! May none those marks efface! 
For they appeal from tyranny to God.'" 

" Quite correct !" exclaimed Frank. " You have every word exactly 
as in the original." While Mary repeated the sonnet her brother kept 
his eyes fixed on a page of Byron's Poetical Works, which he had 
bought on the day of their arrival at Geneva. It had been carefully 
perused by all the party, especially the portion relating to Lake Leman 
and the country that surrounded it. This may account for their famil- 
iarity with the lines they have quoted. 

Mrs. Bassett had shared the perusal of Byron with her children and 
nephew, and was ready with a question as soon as Mary paused. 

" I was reading ' The Prisoner of Chillon ' yesterday," said she, " and 
came upon something I want to ask about." 




THE CASTLE OF CHILLON. 



WERE THERE SEVEN BONNIVARDS ? 



Ill 




BONNIVARD S DUNGEON. 



Frank closed the book, turned towards his mother, and respectfully 
awaited her query. 

" Was it really the case that Bonnivard had two brothers who were 
imprisoned with him, and died in the same dungeon where he was 
chained to the pillar and kept so long ?" 

" That is not true," replied Frank ; " neither is it true — or certainly 
there is no record or tradition — that there were seven Bonnivard s who 
all came to violent deaths at the hands of their persecutors, with the 
sole exception of the one who tells the story." 

" Then Lord Byron must have been deceived by some one when he 
was investigating the story on which his poem was founded," Mrs. Bas- 
sett remarked, in a tone of disappointment. 

" I don't think he was deceived at all," replied Frank. " He wrote 
the poem before he troubled himself about the history. When he saw 
the dungeon, with its ' seven pillars of Gothic mould,' he probably 
thought it would be more poetical to have each of them occupied by a 
prisoner than to give the place over to the solitary Bonnivard. And of 
course the prisoners would be more interesting if there were two or 
more members of the same family among them. After he had written 
the poem, Byron looked up the history of Bonnivard. He says in a 
prefix to the poem that he was not sufficiently aware of the history of 
the illustrious prisoner at the time he penned the composition which 
has become famous through the English-speaking world." 

"I understand better than I have comprehended before," was the 



312 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



reply, " what is meant by poetic license. It means that a poet may sac- 
rifice the truth of history, or pay no attention to it whatever, in order 
to make his production more interesting than it would be if it adhered 
to facts as the historical student finds them." 

" That is a fair statement of the case," responded Frank — " and here 
we are at the castle." 




CASTLE OF CHILLON, LAND SIDE. 



IN THE FAMOUS CASTLE. 



313 



CHAPTER XYIIL 

THE CASTLE OF CHILLON; ITS ANTIQUITY.— THE LAKE-DWELLERS OF SWITZER- 
LAND ; WHO THEY WERE AND HOW THEY LIVED.— LOUIS LE DEBONAIR.— THE 
COUNTS OF SAVOY— SIEGE OF THE CASTLE.— ILLUSTRIOUS PRISONERS OF DIF- 
FERENT TIMES.— HALL OF THE KNIGHTS.— WILLIAM BOLOMIER.— BONNIVARD. 
—INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE.— THE PATH WORN BY BONNIVARD'S FEET; IN- 
SPECTION OF HIS DUNGEON.— THE LITTLE ISLE.— VILLENEUVE ■ SIGHTS TO BE 
SEEN THERE.— SHEEP, GOATS, AND COWS.— MOUNTAIN PASTURES.— FOUNTAINS 
OF VILLENEUVE.— WASHING IN THE LAKE.— A RIDE BY RAILWAY.— VALLEY 
OF THE RHONE.— MARTIGNY— THE LANDLORD'S PHILOSOPHY. 



THE party was hospitably received at Chillon, as it was regarded 
good for not less than four francs of the coin of Switzerland. 
There, as everywhere else through the country, the visitor is expected 
to pay for the privilege of sight- 
seeing at every step. 

" The castle has been represent- 
ed many times in pictures, and its 
outline is familiar to the eyes of 
thousands of persons who never 
looked upon Lake Leman or any of 
the places along its shores," wrote 
Fred in his journal. " It is a very 
old castle — at least, there are parts 
of it that existed more than a thou- 
sand years ago, and many antiqua- 
rians think there was a fortress of 
some kind here in the time of the 
Romans. Other antiquarians go 
further back than the Romans, and 
say there was a place of defence 
here occupied by those curious and 
prehistoric people, the lake -dwell- 
ers of ancient times." 

"What do you mean by lake- 




MOAT TOWER OF CHILLON. 



314 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

dwellers ?" Mrs. Bassett asked, when Fred made the above statement, 
" I don't remember to have heard of them." 

" They were people who lived in huts which stood on piles driven 
into the water in shallow places along the borders of the Swiss 
lakes, generally not far from land." 
. " How long ago did they exist ?" 

"The exact period cannot be given, but it was before the days of 
iron or even of bronze, though some of the settlements seem to have 
lasted down to the time those metals were introduced. Remains of the 
villages of the lake -dwellers were first discovered in 1854, when the 
Lake of Zurich was unusually low ; since that date search has been made 
for them, and they have been found in all the lakes of Switzerland. 
The wooden posts on which the houses stood have been preserved by 
the water, though most of them are so soft that they can be easily cut 
with a spade. Implements and weapons of stone, bone, and horn have 
been found, together with pieces of pottery and other things." 

" Thank you," was the reply. " Now let us talk about the Castle of 
Chillon and its history." 

" The castle first appears authentically in history," said Fred, " dur- 
ing the ninth century, when Louis le Debonair, son and successor of 
Charlemagne, sent his uncle, Count Wala, into the dungeon beneath it 
as a prisoner." 

" What did he do that for ?" Mary asked. 

" Well, it seems that Count Wala, who was an abbot of high stand- 
ing, spoke disrespectfully of Judith of Bavaria, the wife of Louis ; this 
happened while Louis was away from home, and when he returned his 
wife asked to have the count put to death. Louis was a man of ver} r 
nice notions of honor ; he thought it would not be a refined and gentle- 
manly act to murder his uncle, and so he compromised the matter by 
shutting him up in prison. Fearing that the count's friends might at- 
tempt his rescue, Louis sent the captive to a castle in Lombardy, where 
he was securely kept until he died in the year 836. 

" According to history," Fred continued, " the castle was then much 
smaller than it is at present. The dukes of Savoy obtained possession 
of it in the eleventh century, and they at once proceeded to enlarge it 
and give it its present shape. Count Peter of Savoy was besieged in 
it by the barons of the surrounding country, who regarded him as an 
interloper ; but they did not besiege it very earnestly, for one night the 
count sallied out with all his men, fell upon the barons and their forces, 
and defeated them very badly. The old chronicle says that eighty- 



COUNT PETER OF SAVOY. 



315 




YERNKX AND MONTREUX. 



eight of the barons were captured and taken to the castle, after the 
most of their followers had been killed by their assailants." 

" Did the count keep them all here in prison ?" 

" No ; the chronicle says that he feasted them and commended their 
courage, and then allowed them to go home. Some years later the cas- 
tle was besieged and taken, but Peter of Savoy raised an army suffi- 
ciently large to recapture it. That he had hard work to do is shown 
by the statement that he launched fifty thousand shafts and arrows 
against it before he succeeded in starving out the garrison. 

" The next important event in the history of Chillon," said Fred, 
" was in the fourteenth century, when there was great persecution of 



316 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



the Jews all through Europe, and especially in this region. They were 
accused of a conspiracy to poison the wells and springs everywhere, and 
to develop the disease known as the ' pestilence,' or ' black death.' Hun- 
dreds of these unfortunates were shut up in the Castle of Chillon — men, 
women, and children. Some were burned alive by order of the judges 
of Savoy, but the people of the region thought the judges were proceed- 
ing altogether too slowly, and consequently decided to take the law into 
their own hands as judges, jurors, and excutioners." 

" What did they do ?" 

"A mob of them came to the castle, and were readily admitted by 
the guards. They killed every one of the prisoners, without distinction 
of age or sex, many of the victims being burned alive. The only action 




A FOUNTAIN AT VILLENEUVE. 



THE CASTLE OF CHILLON. 317 

ever taken against this outrage was an apology from the judges for not 
having been more expeditious in their work." 

"Are there any more horrors connected with this prison before we 
get down to the time of Bonnivard?" Mary asked. 

" Yes; a hundred years before Bonnivard's time there was a prisoner 
of state at Chillon — William Bolomier, Chancellor of the Duke of Savoy. 
His only crime is said to have been that of raising himself from a hum- 
ble condition to the position that he held at the time of his arrest on a 
charge of ' calumny.' He was kept here for some time, and then taken 
from the prison at night to be drowned in the lake at the hands of the 
executioner of Savoy by order of the judges. 

" That brings us down to Bonnivard's time," said Fred — " to Bonni- 
vard, the most famous prisoner that Chillon ever held, his fame being 
due to Byron's poem about him. You know who Bonnivard was, and 
I need not repeat our conversation soon after we left Geneva on board 
the steamer which bears his name." 

" Has the place been used as a prison of state since Bonnivard was 
kept here ?" Mrs. Bassett asked, as Fred paused. 

" Yes, it was repeatedly used for the incarceration of captives more 
or less distinguished, but their fame has not descended to us, with now 
and then an exception. During the latter part of the last century the 
castle became known as ' The Bastile of Switzerland,' as it was used by 
the authorities of Berne as the place of imprisonment of two citizens of 
Canton Yaud, whose offence was the organization of a banquet to cele- 
brate the fall of the Bastile at Paris. During the Revolution a goodly 
number of magistrates and other officials were shut up in Chillon, but 
they were not kept there very long. It is said that the only difference 
between their treatment and that of the boarders in the numerous pen- 
sions in the neighborhood was that they were deprived of their liberty." 

With the knowledge thus obtained of the Castle of Chillon and its 
inmates for ten centuries, the visit within its walls was specially inter- 
esting to our friends. Mrs. Bassett was somewhat surprised to find that 
the castle contained so many and such spacious rooms as she found 
there. She lingered in the apartments of the dukes and in the Gothic 
chapel, which is said to date from the fourteenth century, but has been 
deprived of many of its decorations through the zeal of the Reformers, 
who covered everything, or nearly everything, with whitewash. The 
guide said that on Sundays they had preaching in the chapel by the 
pastor of the church at Yilleneuve, and sometimes by visiting clergy- 
men from other parts of Switzerland. 



318 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

They lingered also in the great Hall of the Knights, which recalled 
similar halls in the castles of the Rhine and other parts of Germany. A 
place which possessed a terrible interest was the Hall of Justice, with 
which was connected a torture chamber. It was well for the comfort 
of the visitors that the walls long since ceased to echo the screams of 
those who suffered there when the rack was used to extort confessions 
from prisoners, or to compel witnesses to tell the exact truth and noth- 
ing but the truth, or anything else desired. 

" We saw the instruments of torture that were used here," said 
Fred, " and they were enough to make us shudder as we looked at them. 
Then they showed us the pits where the condemned were thrown into 
the lake to be drowned ; there were knives in the sides of these pits, so 
that it was more than probable the victim was killed by them, or cer- 
tainly was terribly lacerated, before he reached the water. The pits 
have long been choked with sand, and I don't believe anybody wants 
them cleared out — certainly not for their former uses. There was a bed 
hollowed out of the rock, where the condemned slept on the night be- 
fore the execution. Doubtless it had plenty of occupants in former 
days ; but for a century and more it has been without tenants, and is 
likely to be so for centuries to come. 

" I had been a little sceptical about the path worn in the rock by the 
feet of Bonnivard ; but, sure enough, there it is, and no mistake. It is 
about three feet long and a foot wide, with a depth of something more 
than an inch. According to history, Bonnivard was fastened to the 
ring that still remains in the pillar by a chain that was attached either 
to his waist or his ankle ; the authorities are not explicit on this point. 
He had just been on a visit to the Bishop of Lausanne when he fell into 
the power of the Duke of Savoy, and here is his own brief account of 
his capture and his imprisonment in the castle : 

" ' He (the bishop) gave me such good cheer that I resolved to return 
to Lausanne. Bellegarde gave me one of his own servants on horse- 
back to accompany me, but when we had reached St. Catherine on the 
Jorat the commandant of the Castle of Chillon, Messire Antoine de 
Beaufort, with certain others, came out of the wood where they had 
been in ambush and confronted me. I was riding at the time on a 
mule, while my guide was on a powerful work-horse. " Spur on !" I 
cried to him, " spur on !" and I used my spurs, while putting my hand 
to my sword. But my guide, instead of leading on, turned his horse, 
rushed upon me, and, using the knife which he had had in readiness, cut 
the belt of my sword. Upon this these honest people fell upon me in a 




THE PRISONER OF CHILLON. 



320 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

body and made me the duke's prisoner, and, notwithstanding the safe 
conduct which I showed them, they bore me away, securely bound, to 
Chillon, where I was forced, without other help than God's, to endure 
my second passion.' 

"Bonnivard tells us that for two years he was treated more as a 
guest than a prisoner, as he had a fine apartment close to that of the 
commander of the castle and his table was well supplied. At the end 
of that time the duke visited the castle and was evidently displeased 
with the way Bonnivard was treated. ' For after his departure,' says 
the famous reformer, 'the captain threw me into a vault lower than the 
lake, where I remained four years. I cannot say whether it was done 
by the duke's orders or from his own notion, but I do know that after 
that time I had so much leisure for walking that I wore a little path 
into the rocky floor of my prison, as though some one had made it with 
a hammer.' 

" He does not tell us how he was fed, or if he was allowed any com- 
panionship with other prisoners. In each of the pillars there was a ring 
just like the one where Bonnivard was bound, but there are no paths 
worn in the rock like the one which he made with his continual pacing 
back and forth. Byron's name is on the pillar, and there are other 
names near it — in fact, the whole place is scribbled over with the auto- 
graph of visitors, the great majority of them being quite unknown to 
fame. We saw where Eugene Sue and Yictor Hugo had recorded their 
visits ; we heard that our great poet Longfellow had made a record of 
his presence at Chillon, but we did not see it. 

" Perhaps you will wonder how Bonnivard's imprisonment came to 
an end. The people of Geneva did not forget him, and after Berne had 
captured the Yaud country the Genevese proposed a joint expedition of 
Berne and Geneva for the capture of the Castle of Chillon. The Bernese 
invested the castle by land, while the Genevese advanced upon it with a 
fleet of boats. At an appointed time the attack was made by both par- 
ties, and the commandant thought it best to offer the surrender. The 
fighting was suspended just before nightfall. During the night, while 
the parley was going on, the commandant retired with his garrison, and 
the next day the allied forces took possession. 

" They found seven prisoners from Geneva, including Bonnivard. 
When they told him he was free and could go wherever he liked, 
Bonnivard asked, ' How about Geneva V 

" ' Geneva is free, too,' was the reply ; and then Bonnivard's chain 
was unfastened, and he went again into the open air, from which he had 



BONNIVARD'S DUNGEON. 321 

been shut in for four years. What long years they must have seemed 
to him in his dreary place of confinement !" 

Mrs. Bassett asked for the island which is mentioned in Byron's poem 
in the following words : 

"And then there was a little isle, 
Which in my very face did smile, 

The only one in view ; 
A small green isle, it seem'd no more, 
Scarce broader than my dungeon floor, 
But in it there were three tall trees, 
And o'er it blew the mountain breeze." 

Fred pointed out the island, which had been called to his attention 
by the guide while Mrs. Bassett was looking at something else. Fred 
told his aunt, on the authority of the guide, that the three trees were 
planted in the last century, and consequently were not in existence dur- 
ing the imprisonment of Bonnivard. But they were on the islet when 
Byron visited the castle, and therefore they found a place in the poem. 
The little spot of land is called He de Paix, and is about one hundred 
feet long and fifty feet wide. 

When our friends had completed their inspection of the famous cas- 
tle they returned to their boat, and continued the voyage on the lake 
to Villeneuve. The wind had freshened somewhat, but as they were 
in the bay which terminates the lake they were not disturbed by the 
motion of the waters, and enjoyed the sail very much. 

As they neared Villeneuve they perceived that it was a walled town 
that had evidently changed very little for a long time. Frank said 
there was a town there in the time of the Romans, and it was then 
called Pennilucus or Penneloci. Quite possibly they might find some 
dwellers there who would claim descent from the Roman rulers, and 
be prepared to prove it in case of dispute. 

" Doesn't Villeneuve mean ' new city V " Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" Yes," was the reply ; " that is the meaning of the word." 

" And this is one of the oldest cities or towns along the lake ?" 

" Yes, one of the oldest. And that's probably the reason they call 
it Villeneuve, just as the oldest city in Russia is called Novgorod, which 
has exactly the same meaning in Russian that Villeneuve has in French. 
Each of those places was 'new' at the ^me of its foundation, and it has 
adhered to the name of newness ever since." 

" Just as Mr. Peaslee's twenty-year-old horse is called ' the colt,' " 
said Mary. 

21 



322 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



"And just as Mr. Webster's eighteen-year-old daughter is called 'the 
baby,' for the sole reason that she is the youngest of the family, and 
was designated ' the baby ' to distinguish her from the elder children," 

Fred remarked, as soon as he had 
*^^ji --^> tne opportunity to speak. 

J ~S?8S^c\ *^SSi?~* "And I suppose those may be 




WASHING dtOTHES IN THE LAKK. 



called babies of Yilleneuve," said Mrs. Bassett, as her eyes rested upon 
three women who were standing in a large tub in the water at the edo- e 



SIGHTS OF VILLENEUVE. 323 

of the lake. Two were bareheaded, and the third wore a straw hat. 
Their arms were bare to the elbow, and they were holding an animated 
conversation, and at the same time occupied with the work of the laun- 
dress. In front of each was a sloping board, one end of which rested 
on the tub, while the other was in the water. This was the Swiss 
equivalent of the " washboard," that is such a familiar object in the New 
England household at the present day. 

There were several groups of laundresses along the lake shore, and if 
one could judge by the quantity of linen hanging on the lines they had 
plenty of occupation. The great number of strangers sojourning in the 
hotels and pensions gives these women all they wish to do during the 
summer months. When the autumn comes their business declines, and 
many of them are forced to turn their attention to other means of live- 
lihood. The women of this part of the country do a great deal that is 
not generally regarded as woman's work in America ; they toil in the 
fields, carry heavy burdens, handle coal and paving-stones, and when 
the time of the vintage comes there are more women than men engaged 
in it. Laundry work is one of the highest of their occupations. They 
are said to be good house-keepers, and certainly such of the houses as 
our friends were able to peep into were the perfection of neatness. 

"Yilleneuve is a quaint old place," wrote Fred, "and we were 
charmed with its apparent willingness to keep things as they are. 
The houses are mostly old to a degree that cannot be readily estimated, 
but are built so solidly that they may stand for as long a time in the 
future as they have stood in the past. The pavements are sucli as you 
might expect to find in a town which boasts of its antiquity ; they are 
rough to walk upon and equally rough to ride over, especially if you 
happen to engage one of the rheumatic vehicles that ply here for the 
use of the stranger within the gates, or anybody else who ventures to 
patronize them from disinclination to walk. 

" As we strolled about the town we encountered two or three flocks 
of sheep and as many of goats. They were generally driven or led by 
boys, and the closeness with which they followed their young guides 
showed that they were attracted to them by some other feeling than 
that of fear. The Swiss are very kind to their dumb animals. Of 
course there will be occasional instances of cruelty, but they are the 
exceptions and not the rule, as our observation goes. 

" We did not see any herds of cattle in the vicinity of Yilleneuve, 
and so we asked an intelligent boy, who had attached himself to us as 
a volunteer guide in the hope of prospective reward, where all their 



324 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




CATTLE AT THIC FOUNTAIN. 



cows were. He told us they were up in their mountain pastures, where 
they are sent during the summer, accompanied by the young men and 
women, mostly the former, who are to take care of them, and prepare 
the butter and cheese for market. "We found that the Swiss custom of 
sending cattle to the mountain pastures in summer, and returning them 
to the lowlands in winter, is exactly like that of the Norwegians which 
we have already told about. In fact, the two are so nearly identical 
that one description will answer for both.* 

" Goats and sheep are also sent to the mountains in considerable 
numbers, where they fatten upon the rich grasses that grow in the little 
valleys and along the slopes. Sometimes the cows and goats run to- 
gether; and it is a noticeable circumstance that where two or three 
sheep or goats have been kept for a while with the cattle, they will not 



* See The Boy Travellers in Northern Europe, chapter xxvi. 



GOATS IN SWITZERLAND. 



325 



thereafter associate willingly with their own kind. They prefer the 
companionship of the larger animals, but whether through a sense of 
protection in the superior size of the cattle, or from what other cause, I 
am unable to say. The goats in Switzerland are superior to the speci- 
mens that one finds in the upper portions of JSTew York City ; in fact, 
none of us have ever seen in America any goats that equal the Swiss 
ones in size and beauty. The milk of the goat is far superior to cows' 
milk, as every one who has ever used it will readily admit. The thrifty 
Swiss dilute it with water before bringing it to the table, and the dilu- 
tion is such that Mary says she is sure water is a great deal cheaper 
than milk, or they wouldn't be so liberal with it. 

"We passed the post-office during our stroll, and Mary suggested we 
might stop and ask for letters, just for the sake of seeing the place. We 
peeped in at the door, but did not enter. The post-office was not large, 
and evidently its business is not extensive, if we are to judge by the 
general appearance of the place. We could not see any man about the 
post-office, and if there was one in charge of it he had evidently gone 
out, and left it to the care of the woman who was trying to understand 
the very poor French of two Englishmen who were seeking their letters, 




POST-OFFICE, YILLENEUVE. 



326 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and were unable to make her comprehend the pronunciation of their 
names, which were strange to her ears. 

" As we came away Mary said she felt like telling the strangers to 
show their visiting-cards, or some other piece of paper on which their 
names were printed in plain type. 

" This is the sensible thing for everybody to do when he is in a for- 
eign country. If you carry a passport in your pocket have your name 
stamped in large letters on the case ; then when you call at a post-office 
for mail matter you have only to show the stamped name, and your de- 
sire will be understood at once by the official. 

" The fountains of Yilleneuve, like those of all other Swiss cities 
and towns, are centres of sociability to a degree unknown in America. 
Cattle and other domestic animals drink from them ; servants come 
with buckets, which they fill at the spouts whence the water flows 
steadily, and as the buckets are filling the opportunity is embraced for 
a friendly chat with whatever acquaintance may be there. Mary de- 
tected, or thought she detected, a pair of lovers exchanging sweet words 
at a fountain, the swain leaning on one side of the stone trough, while 
the maid pretended to busy herself with the polish of a pan which she 
had brought there for cleansing. Mary made a hasty sketch of the 
scene, which she afterwards elaborated. The hero and heroine were so 
attentive to each other that they did not see the artist, who was putting 
them into a picture from the nearest corner. 

"The streets of Yilleneuve, like those of all the old continental 
towns, are narrow and not always straight, and on most of them the 
entire width of the street serves as sidewalk. Frequently the buildings 
are connected by means of arches across the streets. This feature is not 
peculiar to Yilleneuve, as we have seen it in Geneva, Lausanne, and 
Yevay, and expect to see it wherever we go in Switzerland. The arch- 
ways are convenient resting-places when it rains, and it is proper to 
remark that this part of Switzerland is usually supplied with rain in 
great abundance. Perhaps it is for this reason that so many archways 
have been built here ; at least a philosopher might so argue, just as one 
wise man is credited with saying it is a very fortunate circumstance that 
great rivers nearly always run past large cities." 

Mary made note of the fact that the language of Yilleneuve Avas 
French, and her inquiries developed the circumstance that many of the 
servants in Swiss families there came from the German -speaking can- 
tons in order to acquire French. In the same way young people go 
from the French-speaking districts to learn German in cantons where 



LANGUAGES IN THE SWISS CANTONS. 



327 




FLIRTATION BY THE WATER. 



that language is spoken. German is spoken by the majority of the in- 
habitants in fifteen cantons, French in five, Italian in one, and Eo- 
mansch in one. More than two-thirds of the people of Switzerland 
speak German as their native language, but a considerable number of 
these have a fair knowledge of French, and the same may be said 



328 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



with regard to German of those people in various parts of the country 
to whom French is the mother-tongue. 

" We returned to Yevay by rail, as had been arranged when we left 
there," said Mary, "and it was our first ride upon a real Swiss railway, 
the line b}' - which we came to Geneva from Culoz being distinctively a 
French one. The carriage we rode in was more like an American one 
than anything we had seen on the Continent, as it had a passageway 
through the centre, with seats arranged on both sides of it. The train 
signal for starting was given by blowing a horn. At the crossings we 
saw, as we looked from the windows of the train, signal -women stand- 
ing with flags in their hands and horns at their lips. They were there 
to warn people against crossing the track while the cars were ap- 
proaching ; they certainly did their duty, as we did not run over any- 
body, or, if so, we did not know it. 

" The railway station of Villeneuve is outside the town, and the same 
is the case with that of Yevay ; but the distances are not great, and as 
the groups at the stations are more or less picturesque, and there is 
plenty to see, I liked the arrangement better than if the train had 
brought us to the door of our hotel or taken us directly from it. 

" Our ride by rail was a short one, as the distance between the two 
places is only seven miles. We took seats on the left side of the car- 




OUTSIDE OF YILLENEUYE. 



A MOONLIGHT EXCURSION. 



329 



riage, so as to have the 
lake and mountains in the 
picture that was revealed 
from the windows. Of 
course we had another 
glance at Chillon, which 
will always remain in my 
memory as a very inter- 
esting place. The sunset 
on the mountains in the 
distance was well worth 
coming a long way to see; 
long after the shadows 
had fallen on the lake 
and on the valley of the 
Rhone, where the river 
pours its turbid stream 
into Leman, the mount- 
ains were bright with the 
sunlight, which seemed to 
linger as though unwill- 
ing to leave the world in 
darkness. 

" In the evening we 
had the moonlight on the 
lake, and it was so enjoy- 
able that we remained up 
somewhat later than is 
our custom. We hired a 
boat for an hour on the 
water, and mamma and 
I liked it so much that 

Frank told the boatmen we would keep them for two hours. When 
we came back to shore and found it was a late bedtime Frank said we 
need not be in a hurry to get up in the morning, and breakfast -time 
could be half an hour later than usual. He said something about 
continuing our journey, provided the weather should prove favorable, 
but if it wasn't we would stay another day at Yevay." 

As soon as the party was seated at breakfast the next morning Mrs. 
Bassett asked Frank where they would go next. 




ARCHWAY AND SHEEP. 



330 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" If 3^011 do not object to a little fatigue," the youth replied, " I pro- 
pose to take you to Mont Blanc as soon as possible." 
" Will the journey be very fatiguing, do you think ?" 
" Not particularly," was the reply. " We will go this afternoon by 
train to Martigny, which is thirty-one miles from here — a ride of an 
hour and a half ; then to-morrow we will go by wagons over a mount- 
ain road from Martigny to Chamouni. It will be necessary to start in 
good season, as the ride will take about nine hours, and we will stop an 
hour or more for dinner at the Tete ISToir Hotel, which is half way." 
" There will be no great fatigue about that, I'm sure," said Mrs. Bas- 

sett, "and I think the 
journey ought to be an 
interesting one." 

Of course Mary was 
quite ready for her 
part of the scheme, as 
she would have been 
had the proposal been 
much more terrifying. 
It was accordingly set- 
tled that they would 
leave by a train early 
in the afternoon, which 
would bring them to 
Martigny in ample 
time to make all nec- 
"^ essary arrangements 

for the journey over the hills to 
Chamouni and Mont Blanc. 
After passing Yilleneuve, and 
having another view of the Castle of 
Chillon, they found themselves in 
the valley of the Khone, which is 
three or four miles wide where it 
enters the lake, but narrows rapidly as one ascends 
along the banks of the stream. The valley is flat, 
and contains many marshes ; it has been filled by 
the earthy deposits which the river has brought 
down from the mountains during the ages and ages of its flow, closing 
up what was originally an arm of the lake. 




YALLET SCENE. 



EXPERIENCE AT MARTIGNY. 331 

At her first sight of the rushing Rhone, Mary called attention to the 
gray and muddy waters, which were in such marked contrast to the 
beautiful blue of the river as it emerges from the lake at Geneva. 
Then the girl became scientific, and asked Fred to help her with a calcu- 
lation as to how many years would be required for the river to fill the 
lake altogether with the debris which it is bringing down. 

" That's easy enough to find out," said Fred. " Tell me how many 
cubic feet of water there are now in the lake, and the number of cubic 
feet of solid matter brought down every year by the Rhone, and I'll 
do the rest if you allow me time enough." 

Mary decided that she would leave the calculation for the present, 
and turn her attention to subjects less difficult, especially as the lake 
was likely to last as long as they would have any use for it. 

In due time the train reached Martigny, and our friends proceeded 
to one of the hotels of the busy little town. Frank immediately set 
about arranging for their journey to Chamouni, and inquired of the 
hotel keeper as to the facilities for procuring carriages. The man di- 
rected him to the office of an association of drivers, and in reply to a 
question by the youth he asserted positively that there was no other 
association or office of the kind in Martigny. 

The party went to the office which the landlord indicated, and the 
bargain for the carriages was quickly made, in accordance with the 
printed tariff. The vehicles for the mountain road are light wagons, 
with two seats for two persons each ; consequently, they have room for 
three passengers, the driver occupying one of the four places. Engage- 
ments were concluded for two wagons at fifty francs each, and it was 
stipulated that no other passengers were to be taken. The money was 
paid, and the contract, duly signed and stamped, was handed over to 
Frank as the leader of the party. 

Then our friends went for a stroll through the town, and one of the 
first things to catch their eyes was a carriage-office, over which was a 
sign announcing that vehicles for two persons to Chamouni could be 
had there for thirty francs each. On their return to the hotel Frank 
called the landlord's attention to the sign they had seen, and mildly 
suggested that it conflicted with his statement that there was no car- 
riage association other than the one to which they had been directed. 

" There is no other," was his reply. " The one you are talking about 
is a rival concern, and we do not recognize its existence." 

Frank and Fred endeavored to argue the case with the man, but 
soon gave it up in despair. Over and over again he repeated, " We do 



332 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



not recognize its existence," and he seemed to think that his answer 
ought to satisfy any reasonable being. 

" He reminds me," said Frank, " of the French philosopher who said 
that when a man owes money which he does not intend to pay he 
really is out of debt and owes nothing." 




CHURCH TERRACK, 1I0NTREUX. 



A WAGON DRIVE IN THE ALPS. 



333 



CHAPTEE XIX. 



FROM MARTIGNY TO CHAMOUNI.— HOW THEY "CHANGE HORSES" IN SWITZER- 
LAND.— PASS OF THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD.— WHO WAS ST. BERNARD?— 
LIFE AT THE HOSPICE IN THE PASS.— DOGS OF THE SAINT-BERNARD.— ORIGIN 
OF THE STOCK.— HOW THE HOSPICE IS MAINTAINED.— A MEAN STREAK OF 
HUMAN NATURE.— HOW OUR FRIENDS TRAVELLED BY WAGON.— THE DRIVER'S 
TRICK.— TETE NOIR HOTEL.— CHAMOUNI.— STUDYING MONT BLANC — MONU- 
MENT TO JACQUES BALMAT. — DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE ASCENT 
OF MONT BLANC. — CATASTROPHE TO A PARTY CAUGHT IN A STORM. — DR. 
BEANE'S NOTE -BOOK. — GUIDES THROWN INTO A CREVASSE. — MONTANVERT 
AND THE MER DE GLACE.— MARY'S ACCOUNT OF THE EXCURSION THITHER. 



ALL went to bed early in the evening, and were up in good time for 
breakfast, and the start for Chamouni by wagon road. 

Mrs. Bassett and Fred led the way in one of the wagons, and were 
closely followed by Frank and Mary in the other. Each vehicle was 
drawn by a pair of sturdy horses accustomed to mountain work, and 
the animals settled down to the toil before them as 
though perfectly willing to do the bidding of their 
drivers. Fred asked the driver of his wagon if he 
went through to Chamouni without a change of 
teams, and the latter promptly answered in the neg- 
ative. " We change at the Tete Noir," said he ; " it 
would be too much for the horses to go all the way 
to Chamouni, as the road is very hard." 

Fred agreed with him, and complimented the 
driver on the regard he showed for the faithful 
creatures that were taking the wagon up the slopes 
of the mountains at a good pace. But when, later 
in the day, he found the exact character of the 
change of horses at the Tete Noir he was inclined 
to laugh at the way he had been deceived. 

The Tete Noir Hotel is half way between Mar- 
tigny and Chamouni, and the streams of passengers 
from each place for the other meet there a little past "alpenstock." 




334: 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



noon. The wagons exchange passengers at this point. When our 
friends came out from dinner their drivers turned them over to two 
drivers who had come that morning from Chamouni with loads of 









-L--V 






MOUNTAIN AND VALLEY. 



passengers. There was certainly " a change of horses," but only to 
horses that had already done a morning's work equal to that of the 
teams that had brought the travellers from Martigny. This arrange- 
ment enables the drivers from either end of the route to reach home the 
same evening, and the fiction of " changing horses " is well calculated to 
amuse the passenger who sympathizes with the animals in the hard 
work they have to perform over the mountain route. 

Half a mile or so out of Martigny a guide-post indicated the road to 
the Saint-Bernard Pass of the Alps — a pass that has long been famous. 
Mary suggested that she would like to visit the hospice at the top of 
the pass, and asked Frank how long it had been maintained there. 

Frank replied that he could not say exactly, as the early history of 
the pass and hospice is not at all clear. " The account most generally 
believed," said he, " is that Bernard de Menthon established the hospice 
in the year 962. He was afterwards canonized as St. Bernard, and it is 
from him that the pass and the mountain it crosses received their names." 



PASS OF THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. 335 

"But did he discover the pass?" Mary asked. "Was he the first 
traveller over it according to history ?" 

" ~Not by any means," responded Frank. " The pass was known 
long before his time. The Romans crossed the Alps here in the year 
100 before the Christian era; several Roman armies crossed here at 
different times, and the Emperor Constantine caused the road to be 
greatly improved in the year 339. An uncle of Charlemagne invaded 
Italy by this pass in a.d. 773, accompanied by an army of 30,000 men." 

" I was all wrong in my supposition that the pass was named for its 
discoverer," said Mary, meekly. " I don't think I'll be quite as hasty 
in future when talking about the Alps." 

" Your supposition was a very natural one," Frank answered, " and 
you are by no means the first traveller who has entertained it. It is 
very proper that the pass bears the name of St. Bernard, as he was 
the first man to establish a monastery there for the benefit of his fel- 
low-men and entertain all comers." 

Then Frank told his sister that the monastery comprises a society of 
about forty members of the Augustinian order of monks. Ten to fif- 
teen of the number are constantly on duty at the monastery or hospice, 
and they have seven attendants or assistants. There is an asylum for 
the sick and aged at Martigny, and the monks retire to it occasionally 
to gather strength for their life on the mountain, and they go there 
permanently when no longer able to withstand the very severe hard- 
ships of their abode of snow. 

"They begin their service at the age of nineteen or twenty," said 
Frank, " and long before they reach their fortieth year their health is 
generally broken, and they retire to the milder climate of the valley. 
Snow lies on the mountain in the neighborhood of the hospice for nine 
months in the year, and there is a little lake close to the monastery that 
is frequently covered with ice in midsummer. In winter the cold is in- 
tense, and it is then that the monks go out with their dogs to look for 
unfortunate travellers who may have been caught in the storms." 

" This is where the Saint-Bernard dogs come from, I suppose." 

" Yes," was the reply; "the stock is believed to have come originally 
from the Spanish Pyrenees, but the genuine breed of Saint - Bernard 
dogs became extinct long ago. It resembled the Newfoundland dog in 
many ways. The present breed of Saint-Bernard dog is short-haired, 
and is generally of a fawn color, with very broad feet, and it has a re- 
markably loud and deep bark. Many lives have been saved by the in- 
telligence and strength of the dogs ; they are trained to go out in the 



336 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



morning with food and wine and blankets fastened to them for the re- 
lief of sufferers. There are usually two dogs together, so that when a 
person is found in the snow one can remain with him while the other 
returns to the monastery or goes back on his track till he meets some 
of the brethren, as the latter generally follow the dogs soon after their 
departure. In the museum at Berne there is the stuffed skin of the 
dog Barry, which is said to have saved the lives of fifteen persons be- 
fore he broke down in strength and was brought to the valley. An- 
other dog is credited with saving twenty-two lives." 

Mary asked if many people try to cross in winter and are lost in the 
.snows of Saint-Bernard at the present time. 

Frank answered that since the improvement of the roads over the 
mountain, and the establishment of railways through Mont Cenis and 
Mount Saint Gothard, the number of travellers over the Saint-Bernard 
Pass in winter is greatly reduced. " Altogether," said he, " there are 
from twelve to fifteen or sixteen thousand travellers crossing- here 




SAINT-BKRNARD DOG. 



MEANNESS OF MANY TRAVELLERS. 337 

every year, but by far the greater number is in summer. The hospice 
is maintained gratuitously, and it costs eight or ten thousand dollars a 
year to support it. People are lodged and fed free of all charge, but 
there is a box in the hall of the hospice, where those who can afford 
to pay are expected to give as much as they would give at a hotel in 
Martigny or Chamouni for the same entertainment." 

" The contributions they receive in this way from travellers ought 
to be very large," said Mary, as Frank paused. 

" To the discredit of human nature," replied Frank, " I am com-, 
pelled to say that they are very small. The gifts from the twelve or 
fifteen thousand travellers annually entertained at the hospice do not 
equal what would be the charges for one thousand patrons of a hotel, 
so the monks say, and very moderate charges at that." 

" What a shame !" the girl exclaimed. 

" I agree with you," said Frank. " There's Fred stopping and sig- 
nalling to us to come along. Wonder what he wants." 

Frank's wagon overtook Fred's in a few minutes. It seemed that 
Fred had learned from his driver of a short cut by the old road which 
was much less than the new one. The driver had suggested to Fred 
that perhaps they would like to walk along this short cut while the 
wagons went around with Mrs. Bassett and Mary. 

Frank negatived the proposal, as he had taken pains to inform him- 
self about the peculiarities of the road. The old road was rough and 
stony, and the walking anything but easy. The driver was evidently 
more concerned to lighten his load than to entertain his passengers ; 
and however much the young people might have welcomed the walk as 
a variation from the monotony of the ride, Frank knew that his mother 
would not care to take it. And, furthermore, the so-called short cut 
would have required an hour of vigorous walking with a constant ascent 
to reach the other end of it. 

So the party remained in the wagons, and the ascent was continued. 
Looking behind them now and then, our friends had views of the valley 
of the Rhone, while around them they had the peaks of the Alps, with 
valleys like great gashes cut between. Up and up they climbed, till 
they reached the Col de Trient, which is also known as Col de Forclaz, 
at an elevation only a few feet short of five thousand above the level of 
the sea, and very far above the valleys. 

Mary suggested that they would climb to the top of the little tavern 
where they halted for a few minutes, and thus would gain an elevation 
exceeding five thousand feet. The proposition was not carried out, as 

22 



338 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



all were busy with the view which they had of the valleys below them 
on either side and the mountains around. 

While they were resting, the drivers made fast the few articles of 
baggage that were stowed in the wagons. They explained that the 
road they were about to descend 
the 



necessary 

ing thrown forward from 




SWISS MOUNTAIN ROAD. 



was steep, and it would be 
look sharply to avoid be- 
their seats. 

their journey each mem- 
ber of the party obeyed 
the injunction of the driv- 
ers, and after a few min- 
utes Fred suggested that 
it would be just as 
agreeable to him to 
walk a part of 
the way down 
the slope. Frank 
and Mary as- 
sented, but Mrs. 
Bassett decided 
that she was per- 
fectly contented 
with the wagon ; 
consequently the 
young folks in- 
dulged in a walk, 
which Fred said 
was not at all 
fatiguing, as 
their weight car- 
ried them along. 
They looked far 
down below 
them, where a 
little river, the 
Trient, was dash- 
ing among the 
rocks and through stretches of 
forest. At the village of Trient 
they resumed their places in the 



ARRIVAL AT CHAMOUNI. 339 

wagons and reached the Tete Noir (Black Head) Hotel in due season, 
quite ready for the dinner which was shortly announced. 

The hotel takes its name from the mountain near which it stands, 
and Frank suggested that the mountain was called the Black Head be- 
cause it wasn't any blacker than its neighbors. Shortly after leaving 
the hotel in the direction of Chamouni the wagons passed through a 
series of arches cut in the rock on the side of the mountain. The driver 
explained that formerly the road here was very dangerous, and fatal 
accidents were by no means infrequent. There are yet a good many 
places along the road Avhich Mrs. Bassett characterized as " pokerish." 
When they reached Chamouni she declared that she had greatly en- 
joyed the ride and was glad to have made it, but she did not care to 
return by the same route unless it was the only one. 

While yet six or eight miles from Chamouni our friends reached the 
top of a ridge which separates the waters of the Rhone from those of 
the Arve. It is in the valley of the latter stream that Chamouni lies. 
What interested them more than the water-shed was the view which 
was here presented of the chain or group of mountains of which Mont 
Blanc is the centre. There were the mountains right in front of them, 
and very much nearer than when seen from Geneva. Mary said it al- 
most seemed as though she could reach out and touch the mountains. 
She extended her hand towards them as she spoke, but not with the 
movement that indicated an expectation of pressing the tips of her fin- 
gers against the perpetual snows of the summit and upper slopes of the 
monarch of the mountains of Europe. 

From the veranda of the hotel at Chamouni they had an excellent 
view of the side of Mont Blanc. There was a powerful telescope on the 
veranda, and looking through it they could easily make out the details 
of the picture which the mountain presented. Frank directed the tele- 
scope to a little point of rocks, which he said was Les Grands Mulets 
(The Great Mules), and then called his mother to look through the glass 
without moving it in the least from its position. 

Mrs. Bassett looked, and after a few moments said she could see 
something that resembled a house, but she did not suppose any human 
beings would desire to live there even for a clay. 

" There is a house there," said Frank, " or perhaps it would be bet- 
ter described as a hut. It was built by the guides to facilitate the ascent 
of Mont Blanc. There are two huts there, and for the past few years 
they have been kept open in summer for the accommodation of travel- 
lers. Now let me adjust the glass again." 



340 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




ROCK OF THE GRANDS MULETS. 



He directed the glass so that it pointed at the slope of snow above 
the Grands Mulets and in the direction of the summit of the great 
mountain. When Mrs. Bassett looked again she exclaimed that the 
snow was covered with tracks, as though a drove of cattle had been 
along there and strayed considerably. 

" There certainly must be no small number of people travelling over 
that snow," said she. " One might almost call it a beaten road where 
the tracks are most numerous, just beyond the huts." 

" The ascent of Mont Blanc is not so momentous an affair as it used 
to be," was the reply. " It is fatiguing, of course, and there is a certain 
amount of danger connected with the journey ; but when everything 
goes well, and storms do not interfere, the time for the ascent and re- 
turn may be calculated almost to an hour. So surely is this the case 
that tourists accustomed to mountain climbing, and having two days to 
spare for the ascent, will engage places in the diligence for the third 
morning, and write or telegraph for rooms at the hotels in Geneva." 

"And how long is it since the first ascent of the mountain was 
made ?" was Mrs. Bassett's next inquiry. 



FIRST ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. 



341 



" I will answer that," was the reply, " in a few minutes, when you 
have seen a monument which is one of the sights of Chamouni." So 
saying, Frank led the way out of the hotel and along the street of the 
village whose principal revenues are drawn from the summer visitors 
who wish to see Mont Blanc and its neighbors more closely than they 
are seen from Geneva or elsewhere on the lake. 

It did not take long to reach the monument to which their steps 
were directed — the monument to the memory of Jacques Balmat, who 
was the first human being to stand on the summit of Mont Blanc. His 
feat was accomplished in the summer of 1786. Several attempts had 
been made in previous years, but all had failed, and it was only after 
enduring great fatigue and showing the most dogged perseverance that 
Balmat succeeded in his effort to reach the top. 

" On his return to Chamouni," said Frank, " Balmat was so exhaust- 
ed that he slept for forty-eight hours without waking, and when he did 
wake he was delirious. Dr. Paccard was called in, and was astonished 
to hear from the lips of his patient, who talked all through his delirium, 
what he had accomplished, as up to that time the summit of the mount- 
ain had been considered inaccessible. 

" Balmat recovered in the course of a month, and then he and the 
doctor made the ascent together. The secret of Balmat's success was 





SWITZERLAND 



^ 






MOUNTAINS OF EUROPE. 



his discovery of a practicable route. All previous attempts had been 
made by the way of the Dome du Gouter, which is connected with 
Mont Blanc by a long and narrow ridge. It is so narrow that nobody 



342 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

could walk on it, but was obliged to creep on all-fours ; and if by any 
accident he fell off on either side he would go down hundreds of feet 
upon the sharp rocks or into crevasses in the ice, and in either case death 
was certain. Balmat crept farther along this ridge than any one else 
had done, but even he was unable to go far enough to reach Mont Blanc. 

" After his failure there he spent the night alone on the Grand Pla- 
teau, his companions returning to Chamouni. Then he tried to go up 
another way, and succeeded, and thus he has the reputation of being 
the first man to reach the summit of the great mountain." 

" Do the climbers of the present day follow the route of Balmat ?" 

" To a considerable extent they do, but the guides now know the 
mountain so well that the ascent is many times easier than it was a 
hundred years ago. They have put bridges across the crevasses, and 
ladders in the places where they are most needed, and they have made 
steps in the walls of rock and ice, and smoothed down many other diffi- 
culties. From fifty to a hundred tourists make the ascent every year, 
and as each tourist requires not less than two guides and porters to ac- 
company him, you can understand why those tracks across the snow 
look like a well-marked road. There is an association of guides here, 
whose regular business it is to accompany travellers, and they have a 
code of rules by which they are governed." 

" I beg your pardon for speaking to you," said a man who was stand- 
ing near the party. He spoke English with an accent, and not alto- 
gether with grammatical correctness, but it was sufficiently good to 
enable him to be perfectly comprehended. He added that he was a 
member of the association of guides, and had been several times to the 
summit of Mont Blanc with tourists. 

" I heard you talking of it," said he, " and perhaps I can tell } T ou 
something about the journey. And if any of you want to go up you 
may probably wish to have English-speaking guides." 

Frank said they had no intention of ascending Mont Blanc or any 
other of the snow-covered mountains of Switzerland ; but, as a matter 
of curiosity, they would like to know the time and expense of the ex- 
cursion, so that they could tell others. 

" If you are good walkers and climbers," said the guide, " you can 
start from here in the morning and reach the Grands Mulets in seven 
hours. You will be tired enough to go to bed very early ; anyway, you 
must get up so as to start at four in the morning, and if you do you Can 
be on the summit of Mont Blanc an hour before noon. Stay there two 
hours and then start Mown the mountain, and you may be at the hotel 



FIRST WOMAN ON MONT BLANC. 



343 



in Chamouni before the sun goes down, or very soon after sunset. 
Most travellers stay the second night at the Grands Mulets, and come 
back to Chamouni in the forenoon of the third day." 

Turning to Mary, the guide said that a good many ladies had been 
up Mont Blanc, the first of the sex being a Frenchwoman, who required 




MONT BLANC FROM THE MER DE GLACE. 



her guides and porters to hold her at arms' length in the air on the sum- 
mit, so that she could claim to have been higher up than any one else. 
"Hardly a year passes," he added, "that the journey is not made by 
American or English women, and you can see their names at the office 
of the association, where the books are open." 

" But you haven't told us how much it costs to make the journey to 
the top of the great mountain," said Mrs. Bassett. 

" I was coming to that," he answered, promptly. " The fee of a 
guide is one hundred francs, and of a porter fifty francs ; and then you 
must buy provisions, alpenstocks, and other things. There should be a 
guide and a porter for each tourist, though sometimes they have only 
one guide for all, and a porter for each one. But really each traveller 
should have a guide and a porter to himself." 

Fred entered into a brief mental calculation, and decided that the 



344 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

ascent of Mont Blanc would require a disbursement of not less than 
fifty dollars for each one who made it. As he announced the result to 
the others the guide interrupted him with the suggestion that if they 
did not care to ascend to the top of Mont Blanc they could ascend the 
Dome du Gouter, which would only take about four hours from the 
Grands Mulets. " That will not cost as much," said he, " as the fee of 
the guide is only sixty francs." 

The conversation then turned upon accidents, and the guide assured 
them that they need have no fears on that score. " You must not think 
of going up in rainy or foggy weather," he said, " and when the guide 
says ' stop ' you must do as he tells you. Sometimes storms come up 
suddenly, but generally we can foresee them, and get to shelter before 
they come. The worst accident up to this time is the one that hap- 
pened in 1870, when a party of eleven were lost in a snow-storm. There 
were two Americans in the party — Mr. Randall, of ISTewburyport, and 
Dr. Beane, of Baltimore —and one Englishman, Rev. Mr. M'Corkendale. 
The rest were guides and porters from Chamouni." 

Mrs. Bassett asked how it happened, and the guide thus explained : 

" They were watched from Chamouni, as all parties are watched, 
through the telescopes, and were seen on the summit of Mont Blanc. 
The weather was fine when they started from here, and it was fine the 
next morning and all the way up to the top. The storm came on while 
they were coming back ; it was on a Tuesday morning, and the last 
seen of them they were huddled together and clinging to each other on 
a point of rock we call the Dromedary's Hump. The snow was whirl- 
ing all around them, and it was the whirling snow that shut them out 
of sight. Wednesday they did not come back, and Thursday a party 
was organized to go in search of them. All the guides were ready to 
volunteer, but the chief said that no married men could go, as it was a 
dangerous journey. I was the youngest of the guides then, and wasn't 
married, and so I was one of the party. 

" The storm did not stop, and we could not get to where the party 
was last seen, though we tried our best to do so. We came back, and 
three days later we went again, with the same result. It was not till 
ten days after the party was last seen that any trace of it was discov- 
ered. The telescopes had been sweeping the sides of the mountain, and 
finally some black spots were seen on one of the slopes and searchers 
went out at once to see what they were. 

" Those black spots Were the bodies of the men who had perished. 
On that of Dr. Beane, the Baltimore gentleman, was a note - book, in 



a 

c> 

* CD 

g.O 

© 3 



> p 



g p Oi 

& o 

p 3 

«2 



sO 



o &• 

= 9 




346 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

which he wrote that they were caught in a snow-whirlwind, and had 
spent the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in a grotto of snow. 
The last entry was made on Wednesday evening, and he said they were 
out of provisions, his feet were already frozen, and he had only strength 
to write those words. The same year an English lady and a guide fell 
into a crevasse and were killed. Once a party of three gentlemen and 
twelve guides and porters were climbing the slope of Mont Blanc, 
when the new snow slipped on the old and carried it along with them. 
Three of the foremost guides were thrown into a deep crevasse and 
killed ; the rest of the party escaped with their lives almost by a mir- 
acle, but most of them were severely bruised." 

Mrs. Bassett asked the guide to describe a crevasse. 

" Well, maclame," he answered, "a crevasse is what you would call, 
in English, a gap or an opening, and I believe you apply the term in 
America to a break in the banks of a river. Here with us it is a crack 
iu the ice or rock ; it varies all the way from a few inches or a foot or 
more to many feet in width at the top, and it narrows at the bottom, 
so that it has the shape of a wedge. When a person falls into a cre- 
vasse of great depth his rescue is impossible ; and if he is not killed by 
the fall, he is soon chilled to death by the cold of the sides of the rock 
or ice against which he is pressed." 

Then the guide explained that every mountain climber carries an 
alpenstock, which is a wooden staff six or seven feet long, and pointed 
with iron at one end. This staff is used to assist in ascending the steep 
slopes, or to check the speed when one is descending too fast. When a 
man is walking on new snow that may conceal crevasses in the ice be- 
low it the alpenstock is held horizontally beneath the right arm, and 
grasped about midway ; if he breaks through the snow and is in clanger 
of falling into the crevasse, the alpenstock, catching on the two sides, 
may save him. As an additional precaution the members of a party 
are fastened together with ropes around their waists, and about six feet 
apart. The most experienced guide takes the lead, and chooses the path 
of least danger. If any one of the party sinks through the snow into 
a crevasse the rope saves him from falling. In several instances lives 
have been lost in consequence of a neglect of this precaution. 

The guide narrated several incidents of Alpine climbing, and the 
conversation came to an end at the door of the office of the association, 
where Frank arranged for a guide and four saddle-mules to take the 
party to Montanvert on the following morning. The youths declined 
the suggestion to ascend Mont Blanc, and also that of going as far as 



RIDE TO MONTANVERT. 



347 



the Grands Mulets. The guide 
assured them that it was an 
easy journey, and almost equal 
to climbing the great mountain, 
but all his assurances and per- 
suasion availed nothing. 

"It was a jolly ride on the 
backs of mules," said Mary, " al- 
though the mule I started on 
had a motion very much like 
that of a camel. At every step 
I was shaken back and forth, 
and we had not gone a mile 
before I asked Frank or Fred 
to change with me, as I was 
afraid I might get sea-sick. The 
guide said the mule would be 
all right after a while when he 
got his joints properly lubricat- 
ed. The prediction proved to 
be fairly correct, but I'm sure 
the beast will never be popular, 
except with persons suffering 
from dyspepsia. But this isn't 
telling of the Montanvert. 

"It is a low mountain on 
the east side of the valley of 
Chamouni, and the object of 
going there is to see the famous 
glacier known as the Mer de 
Glace, or Sea of Ice. It is 
formed by three glaciers that 
come together up in the mount- 
ains, and unite into a stream 
twelve miles long and a quarter 
of a mile wide that flows down 
into the valley of Chamouni 
where it is melted by the 
warmth of the place and forms the source of the river Arveyron. 

" Up and up along the bridle-path we went, and in little more than 




FALLING INTO A CREVASSE. 



348 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



scendecl from our long-eared steeds. 



two hours from the time we started we were at our destination, and de- 
There was the Mer de Glace in 
full view for about six miles up 
in the mountains. I can best 
describe it by quoting the words 
of De Saussure, the famous nat- 
uralist, who first studied it sci- 
entifically. Here is what he 
says about it : 

" ' The surface of the Mer 
de Glace resembles a sea sud- 
denly frozen — not during a 
tempest, but when the wind has 
subsided, and the waves, al- 
though still high, have become 
blunted and rounded. These 
great waves are nearly parallel 
to the length of the glacier, and 
are intersected by transverse 
crevasses, the interior of which 
appears blue, while the ice is 
white on the surface.' 

" This description was writ- 
ten a hundred years ago, and is 
as correct to-day as when it was 
penned. If I were to criticise 
it at all, it would be that the 
ice is not altogether white on 
the surface ; it is discolored by 
the dirt that it accumulates on 
the way, and by the dust that 
has blown over it from the 
roads that have been made of 
late years, but had not been 
thought of when the great pro- 
fessor was here. But perhaps 
you may not know what a 
glacier is, and what causes it. 
"Well, if you don't, just listen 
a difficult eoad. M to Fred, who has been ap- 




DESCRIPTION OF A GLACIER. 349 

pointed scientist for this exploring expedition from Cbamouni to Mon- 
tanvert and the Mer de Glace." 

. "A glacier," says Fred, "is a mass of ice that flows like a river, 
with the difference that where a river flows one, two, or more miles an 
hour, the glacier only moves a few inches in a day, perhaps only an 
inch or two, and in winter hardly any perceptible distance. It is formed 
of the granular snow that falls in the highest Alpine regions above the 
snow line (eight or nine thousand feet), and accumulates in the valleys 
and in the clefts of the rocks. It is partially melted by the heat of the 
sun during the warm days, but when the cold nights come on it is 
frozen into a solid mass ; then another layer of snow falls on it and is 
turned to ice, and after this another and another, till it has attained 
many feet in thickness, sometimes as much as a thousand feet or even 
more, and fills the valley where it formed. 

" As the glacier is warmed by the sun shining upon it, it becomes 
softened a little, and then the great weight of the mass causes it to slide 
down the valley, where it lies. It tears away the rock and ploughs up 
the earth as it moves along, and this is what makes the ice at the 
edge of the glacier more or less dirty. Scientists say that the prog, 
ress of the glacier is mainly due to mechanical pressure of the mass 
above. Snow and rain keep the upper portions of the glacier sup- 
plied, while the heat in the valleys at the lower extremity melts it 
away and makes it the source of a river. 

" Perhaps you will ask how it is known that a glacier moves, when 
its motion is so slow that it cannot be seen. Agassiz and others found 
this out by setting up rows of stakes from one side of a glacier to the 
other. The rows were perfectly straight across, and marks were made 
on the rocks at each end of a row. 

" The next day it was found that the stakes near the middle were 
just a little out of a straight line, being curved towards the lower end 
of the glacier, and this curvature increased day by day and week by 
week. In this way they have found in some years that the flow of the 
Mer de Glace, opposite where we are now standing, has exceeded eight 
hundred feet, but is usually not more than six hundred. The progress 
is less during the winter than in summer, and in the coldest part of the 
winter it ceases almost entirely. 

" The ice of a glacier is granular, and not like the solid ice which 
forms in a pond or river in winter. Take a piece of common ice and 
pour a little claret wine or red ink upon it, and the liquid will run over 
the surface without penetrating the interior ; do the same to a piece of 



350 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 










' ' :' 



glacier ice, and you 
will find that the red 
liquid goes all through 
it, as it would through 
a hard snow-ball." 

Mrs. Bassett re- 
mained on the veran- 
da of the hotel which 
overlooks the Mer 
de Glace, while the 
younger portion of 
the party descended 
the steep hill-side to 
take a walk on the 
ice. They went about 
half way across and 
lfl| - then returned. By 

the time they reached 
the hotel they were quite red in 
the cheeks, and possessed excellent 
appetites, which they proceeded to 
appease in the customary manner. 
Mary thought it was capital fun to 
sit at a neat and well-supplied ta- 
ble, and look out of the window 
upon the great river of ice that 
stretched away till it was lost in a 
bend of its rocky channel among 
the Alps. 



ALPINE ROSES. 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



351 



CHAPTEE XX. 



SOUVENIRS OF SWITZERLAND.— WOOD-CARVINGS AND ALPENSTOCKS.— INTEREST- 
ING SOUVENIR OF TRAVELS THAT WERE NOT MADE. — EXCURSION TO THE 
FLEGERE.— CHAMOUNI TO GENEVA AND BERNE.— THE SWISS CAPITAL.— HAUNT 
OF THE BEARS.— THE CATHEDRAL AND ITS TERRACE.— VIEW OF THE MOUNT- 
AINS OF THE BERNESE OBERLAND. — THE "AFTER-GLOW." — CURIOUS FOUNT- 
AINS.— PROCESSION OF THE BEARS.— VISIT TO THE BEAR-PITS; HOW THE 
ANIMALS ARE FED.— THE CHAMOIS, AND HOW HE IS HUNTED.— BURGDORF AND 
PESTALOZZL— BALE.— ON THE BANKS OF THE RHINE.— CATHEDRAL AND MU- 
SEUM.— HANS HOLBEIN. 

r T^HE traveller in Switzerland is frequently urged by dealers to pur- 
J- chase souvenirs of his visit, and in no place is there a greater num- 
ber of curiosities offered and pressed 
upon him than at Chamouni. 

There are specimens of the 
stones of the mountains made into 
paper-weights, statuettes, and other 
ornaments; there are wood- carv- 
ings in endless variety; alpenstocks 
of varying lengths and sizes ; Swiss 
laces and other household produc- 
tions ; stuffed birds and quadrupeds 
of the Alps ; and last, but not by 
any means least, a great variety 
of carefully dried and pressed flow- 
ers of the country. 

These souvenirs had a great at- 
traction for Mary, and she depleted 
her purse in the purchase of little 
albums of pressed flowers, which 
she found very convenient to send 
by mail to her friends at home. 
The Swiss show a great deal of 
taste in arranging their floral prod- a mountain climber. 




352 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

ucts for preservation in this wa}^, as every visitor to the country can 
testify from personal observation. 

The most famous of the flowers of Switzerland is the edelweiss ; it 
grows in the higher elevations of the mountains, and is popularly sup- 
posed to flourish at the edge of the snow and ice. It is often found 
growing within a few inches of a bank of snow, and many a climber 
among the mountains has sat down to rest where he could cool his lips 
with snow lifted from its resting-place with one hand while he plucked 
and tenderly held the edelweiss with the other. 

Mrs. Bassett became much interested in Mary's account of this floral 
favorite of Switzerland, and asked the meaning of its name. 

" Edel means 'noble,'" said Mary, in reply to her mother's query, 
" and weiss means ' white.' The scientific name of the flower is Leon- 
topodium alpinum, and they say it is found nowhere else in the world. 
I am not quite sure of this, as there is a flower very much like it, and 
growing under similar conditions, in the Rocky Mountains and the 
Sierra Nevadas of America ; but whether it is identical with the edel- 
weiss or not I'm unable to say." 

Mary obtained several fresh specimens of the flower, and after mak- 
ing a careful sketch of one of them, she placed it and its companions 
between the leaves of a book, where they would be safely preserved. 

Our friends declined to equip themselves with alpenstocks, much to 
the regret of the dealers in those articles. Tourists who climb the hills 
and mountains of Switzerland preserve their alpenstocks as souvenirs 
and records of their journey. It is the custom to burn into the surface 
of the stick the name of each place visited, and the custom has become 
so general that the business of thus marking alpenstocks has grown to 
no small importance. In every village can be seen the announcement, 
"Ici on bride des batons" (Here we mark sticks); and for a few cents 
one can have his alpenstock marked with the name of any place he has 
visited, and also with any other names for which he is willing to pay. 
The marking is done with steel or iron types set in a frame, and held in 
a fire until warmed to redness ; then the hot types are applied to the 
surface of the stick, and the name is burned into it deep enough to re- 
move all possibility of erasure without cutting away a portion of the 
wood. The burning is begun at one end of the stick, and the names 
run around it in a spiral form, sometimes the entire length. 

At the hotel in Chamouni our friends made the acquaintance of an 
American, an elderly man from a western city of the United States, 
who was accompanied by his family. The alpenstock of this man was 



RECORDS OF MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 



353 




THE EDELWEISS. 



a marvel to behold, as it 
was covered from one 
end to the other — and a very long stick it was — 
with Alpine names of a high order. Frank read the 
list with amazement, especially when he observed that 
the owner of the stick was well along in years, was 
" fat and scant of breath," as Hamlet is said to have 
been, and seemed greatly disinclined to physical exer- 
tion. And as Frank read the names — " Mont Blanc, 
Monte Kosa, Matterhorn, Jungfrau, Mont Cervin, Dome 
du Gouter, Great Saint-Bernard, Eiffel berg, Glacier du 
Ehone, Eggischhorn, Col du Mont Tendu," and many 
others — his wonder grew apace. Of course he was too 
polite to indicate by word or manner that he doubted 
the record, but he certainly did question it mentally. 

The American tourist relieved his perplexity by explaining as follows : 
" Don't suppose I've been to all the places on that stick. I bought 
it at a shop here yesterday morning, and told the man who sold it to 
me just how I wanted it fixed. I wanted him to cover it with as much 
of Switzerland as it would hold, and I guess he's earned the ten francs 
he charged me for the job. He wanted half a franc for each name, but 
I told him it was a wholesale affair, and he must make a big discount. 
Ten francs is cheap for seeing all those places. Won't that stick make 
a sensation among my neighbors when I get it home and show it !" 

Frank agreed with him that it would certainly make a sensation, 
and then the subject was dropped. It is fair to say that this enterpris- 

23 



354 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



ing American is not by any means the only traveller who has exagger- 
ated the record of his travels in Switzerland by means of the names of 
mountains and other places on his alpenstock. 

On the second day of their stay at Chamouni our friends visited the 
Flegere, an excursion similar to that to Montanvert, as the time and 
mode of travel are very much the same. From the Flegere they had a 
view of the entire chain of Mont Blanc, from the Col de Balme to the 
Glacier des Bossons. The view embraced the slope of Mont Blanc from 
base to summit, and Mrs. Bassett said it was almost as good as climbing 
the peak, and nowhere near as fatiguing. Mary thought it was the 
nearest that she was ever likely to come to climbing Mont Blanc, and 
her brother and cousin declared themselves of the same opinion. 




FROM CHAMOUNI TO BERNE. 355 

The day after the visit to the Flegere our friends made an early 
start for Geneva. They were intending to travel by diligence, but while 
on his way to the diligence office Frank was accosted by a man who 
offered a large landau for the same price as the seats in the diligence. 
The carriage and horses were inspected and found satisfactory, and the 
bargain was quickly completed. Opportunities for securing return car- 
riages occur daily, as the travel from Geneva to Chamouni is greater 
than that in the contrary direction. 

They were whirled rapidly over an excellent road, and accomplished 
the journey (fifty-three and one-half miles) in little more than seven 
hours, including a halt at Sallanches for dinner. At Geneva they drove 
directly to the railway station, where they caught a train for Berne, 
and were in the capital of Switzerland soon after sunset. 

Fred was appointed the historian of the occasion, and here is what 
he says of this venerable and picturesque city : 

" Berne looks older than Geneva, because it has preserved more of 
its ancient features, but in point of fact it is quite modern by compari- 
son. According to history and tradition it was founded in 1191 by 
Berthold V , who killed a bear on this spot, and therefore gave it the 
name of Berne, which means 'bear.'. Mary says that while we are in 
this city we should heed the motto, ' Bear and forbear.' I suppose she 
means this for a joke, though she does not say so. 

" I don't wonder that the site was chosen for building a city, as it 
was an excellent one in the time when Berne was founded. The river 
Aar surrounds it on three sides, and therefore makes a natural ditch for 
protection. Fortifications were erected all around the inside of the bend 
of the river and across the neck of the land, which was unprotected. 
The city is about one hundred feet above the river, and altogether the 
position was easy of defence in the days before the invention of artil- 
lery. It was besieged several times, but was never taken by an enemy 
until 1798, when the French captured it. They found it an excellent 
prize, as the treasury contained $6,000,000 worth of coin. 

" Berne isn't a large city, although a rich one. It has a population 
of 40,000, and all but 3000 of them are Protestants — in fact, the whole 
Canton of Berne is very much more Protestant than Catholic. The 
Bernese took the side of the Eeformation in 1528, and the great major- 
ity of them have been sturdy Reformers ever since. 

" We have had some delightful walks around the city, and the de- 
light comes from several conditions. The streets are well paved, 
straight, and certainly wider than one expects to find the streets in a 



356 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




AN ARCADE IN BERNE. 



city of its age. Many of 
the houses are built on 
arches, and the sidewalks are cov- 
ered by archways, just as are those 
of Chester in England. When the 
sun is hot, as it often is in the 
middle of the day, the arcades are 
charmingly shaded. In many places 
the arches are built over the cross 
streets at the intersections, so that you may wander all about without 
needing umbrella or parasol against rain or sun. 

" Of course we went to the cathedral, which is one of the sights of 
Berne ; it is a Gothic edifice, which was founded in 1421 and completed 
one hundred and fifty years later, and it has been restored and repaired 
thoroughly within the last half century. We went through the form 
of admiring the paintings, sculpture, and monuments, but did not stay 
long in the building, as we found a good deal of attraction in the Cathe- 
dral Terrace, which was formerly the church-yard, but is now a pleasure 
resort for the public. There are gravel- walks among the trees, and 
there is an abundance of seats, where one may rest as long as he likes. 

" What makes the terrace specially attractive is the fine view it pre- 
sents of the mountains of the Bernese Oberland. The southern horizon 



SEEING THE "AFTER-GLOW.' 



357 



is filled with these mountains, and their snowy peaks cut sharply against 
the clear blue sky. Between us and the mountains is the undulating 
lowland of the canton, and its dark colors make a delightful contrast to 
the whiteness of the snowy range. We sat there a long time study- 
ing the scene, and we came again just at sunset in the hope of seeing 
the much-talked-of 'glow of the Alps,' and the nachluhen, or 'after- 
glow.' We were fortunate in both, and shall long remember the occasion. 

" There were thin clouds in the 
western horizon, and the setting sun 
seemed to be struggling to pierce 
them, and succeeding in the struggle. 
The valleys grew dark with the even- 
ing shadows, and even the mountains 
seemed to have lost the evening light 
and were threatened with speedy ob- 
scurity. Then a new light came, and 
from base to summit the whole range 
of the mountains was warmed into 
a brilliancy that revealed all their 
outlines with perfect distinctness, as 
though a million electric lights had 
suddenly been turned upon them. 
This was the famous ' after-glow,' of 
which the Bernese people are very 
fond, if we may judge by the numbers 
of them who were there to see it. 

"We haven't yet seen a city so 
well supplied with water as is the 
capital of Switzerland. There are 
many fountains in the streets, and 
all are abundantly supplied ; there is 
plenty of water for all the houses, 
and there are rills in most of the 
streets, so that there is no excuse for 
any but the cleanest of walks and 
drives. Most of the fountains are 
old and some are very quaint. The 
quaintest of all is the Kindlifresser- 
Brunnen, or Fountain of the Ogre. 
On the top of it is the figure of an 




FOUNTAIN OP THE OGRE. 



358 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

ogre, who is represented in the act of eating a child, while several 
children, who are evidently intended for the same fate as the one in his 
mouth, are sticking from his pockets ; below him is a troop of armed 
bears, and altogether the fountain is a great deal more grotesque than 
handsome, and attracts much attention. 

" Speaking of bears is a reminder that wherever you go in Berne 
you see bruin in one form or another. Bears are here in statues, on 
shields and bass-reliefs, carved in wood as toys or souvenirs, printed in 
innumerable pictures, or painted on walls and canvas. On the clock- 
tower in the principal square is a troop of bears that go through a per- 
formance two minutes before every hour, and they have been going 
through it without change for several centuries. We timed our visit so 
as to ' take in the bear show,' as Mary expressed it ; in fact, we have 
seen it several times, so that we ought to tell exactly what the animals 
do. Mary has made a memorandum- of the performance, and here it is : 

" ' A wooden cock crows at three minutes before the hour, and he 
flaps his wings quite naturally while he crows. Then the bears march 
out in procession before an old man with a beard, who is in a sitting 
posture. A harlequin then strikes on a bell the number of strokes indi- 
cating the hour, and when the last stroke sounds, the old man with the 
beard turns an hour-glass, and immediately proceeds to count the hour 
by raising his sceptre and opening his mouth. He represents Father 
Time, and each time he opens his mouth the bear that is nearest to him 
nods his head. While Time and the bear are busy in this way, a figure 
in the tower strikes the hour on a bell, and then the cock crows and 
ends the show ; he also crowed after the harlequin indicated the hour, 
so that we had three crows from him altogether. His voice is cracked, 
and no wonder, when you remember how long a time he has been here 
and never missed an hour. Poor old fellow, how I pity him !' 

"After seeing the bears at the clock -tower, Mary said it was time 
for us to see the real live bears in the bear-pits on the other side of the 
Aar. We agreed with her ; and as we had been walking and lounging 
for some time, we engaged a carriage, which was neither new nor hand- 
some but very comfortable, to take us to the home of the bears, or 
Baren Graben, as they call it here. 

" To get there we had to cross the river, which we did on a magnifi- 
cent viaduct, called the Nydeck Bridge. I call it a viaduct, because the 
part over the river is the least of it, the prolongation on the town side 
consisting of a series of arches ; over the river there is an arch 100 feet 
high, with a span of 160 feet, so you can understand what a fine bridge 



FEEDING THE BEAKS. 359 

it is. We were still admiring it when the carriage stopped at the bears' 
den, which is close to the farther end of the bridge. 

" Tradition says that bears have been maintained by the municipal- 
ity of Berne ever since the city was founded. This may not be literally 
true, but it is certain that they have been kept for several centuries, 
with, the exception of a short time in 1798, when the French captors of 
Berne took the bears that were then here, and sent them to Paris. 
Just as soon as they could do so the authorities bought a new lot of 
bruins and restocked their pits, and they have never been without the 
animals for a single day since that time. 

" The den, or pit, is a sort of circular well of stone with an iron rail- 
ing around the top. In the bottom of the pit there are retreats, or dens, 
for the bears, and these dens have sliding doors of iron, so that the an- 
imals can be shut in and protected on cold nights. There is a dividing 
wall across the centre of the pit with a doorway through it, and by 
coaxing the bears into one side and closing the doors their keepers can 
clean out the pit without danger of being attacked. The bears are 
ugly fellows, and the story goes that an English officer who fell into the 
pit several years ago was torn in pieces by them. 

"Mary bought some bread and carrots to give to the bears. The 
creatures have good appetites, and one of them sat down on his 
haunches and held his mouth open while our gifts were tossed into it. 
When we had fed him to our hearts' content it was evidently not to his, 
as he sat there with his mouth open and waited patiently for additional 
offerings. They were not long in coming, as a fresh crowd of visitors 
arrived and supplied him. The rules forbid giving the bears anything 
but bread and fruit. A few days before our visit an American youth 
thought it would be fine sport to give one of the bears a lighted fire- 
cracker in an apple, but he evidently doesn't think so now, as he is do- 
ing penance in the city jail — at least, so the guide te^s us. 

" Somebody took half a dozen carrots, and fastened them together 
with a cord in such a way that they looked like a string of sausages. 
He flung these so that they caught on one of the lower limbs of a tree 
in the pit. The big bear that had been standing with his mouth open 
like a trap gave a glance at the carrots, and evidently concluded that 
he was too large to climb for them. But this was not the case with a 
young brown bear that had just come out from his den. He clasped 
his legs around the tree, and ascended. When he reached the carrots he 
speedily devoured them, and then descended, bear fashion, to the floor 
of the pit again. The performance gave great amusement to the spec- 



360 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 







tators, and especially to the chil- 

dren, who were more numerous 

than adults. Mary says that no 

matter how much is given to one 

of these pets of the city of Berne he 

can only make a bear living. 

" The hucksters around the place 
do a good business in selling bread, 
carrots, and fruit for the nourishment 
of the bears ; and we were told that 
on Sundays and festival days the an- 
imals get so many gifts that the city 
authorities are at no expense for feed- 
ing them. Several booths are de- 
voted to the sale of wood -carvings 
and other curiosities, and among the 
wood-carvings the bear predominates. 
You can see him in all shapes and 
in many occupations. He is represented smoking a pipe, holding a 
parasol or umbrella, wielding sword or other weapon, singing from a 
sheet of wooden music, or eating wooden fruit from a wooden table. 
There was a group of bears representing a school : a large bear wear- 
ing spectacles and holding a rod in one paw was presiding over a dozen 
little bears busy at their studies, and evidently in wholesome fear of 
the rod in their teacher's hand. At one side of the enclosure is a cafe, 



BEAR-PITS AT BERNE 



SIGHTS IN THE MUSEUM. 



361 



in which beer, soda-water, and other light beverages were sold, and we 
observed that the place was well patronized by the Bernese. 

" When we had finished with the bears we drove to the Rosen- 
garten, and afterwards to the Schanzli, whence we had a more exten- 
sive view than from the Cathedral Terrace, which I have mentioned. 
Afterwards we returned to the city and visited the museum, where 
Mary saw the stuffed skin of the famous dog Barry that she heard 
about when we were going from Martigny to Chamouni. We also 
saw what was of interest to all of us : a collection of all the animals in- 
digenous to Switzerland, and said to be the largest in the country. 

"The animal that interested us more than any other was the 
chamois, for the very simple reason that we have heard more about 
him than of any other wild quadruped of the Alps. I was disap- 
pointed as to his size, as I supposed he was much larger than we found 
him, according to the specimens in the museum. I had pictured him as 
a deer, when really he is more like a goat. According to some scientific 
men he belongs to the goat family, while others class him with the an- 
telope. Wood's Natural History calls him rupicapra (rock-goat), and 
another name for him is antelope rupicapra. He is about the size of 
a large goat, but his 



neck is longer and body 
shorter than in the 
common goat. 

" Horns of the cha- 
mois are for sale all 
through Switzerland, 
but I must be par- 
doned for believing 
that the greater num- 
ber of them — in fact, 
nearly all the so-called 
chamois horns that we 
saw — grew on the 
heads of domestic 
goats. There are not 
enough genuine cha- 
mois killed to supply 
a quarter of the de- 
mand for horns. 

" Hunting the cha- 




SCENE IN A BERNESE CAFE. 



HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 



363 



mois in Switzerland is something that a good many sportsmen long 
for, but not all of them undertake. It is a sport attended with 
a great deal of hardship and danger, as the creature inhabits the 
higher parts of the mountains, and can get about with ease where a 
man cannot go. He can leap over ravines fifteen or eighteen feet 
wide, and is said to be able to fall twenty or thirty feet without injury. 
Mountain slopes or steeps that take a man hours to pass can be covered 
in a few moments by the chamois, and when he has discovered his pur- 
suer and taken flight it is as useless to follow him as to follow an 
eagle, or any other bird of strong wing. 

" The dangers and difficulties of chamois hunting are very attractive 
to many of the Swiss peasants, and some of them devote the best part 
of their time to this sport. Some hunters go out alone, but the favor- 
ite way is for several to pursue the animal together. The chamois is 
gregarious, and flocks of them are often seen together. The hunters di- 
vide into parties, and one party conceals itself in a course it is supposed 
the animals will run when they catch sight of the other party. In this 
way they are shot from ambush, and occasionally several of them may 
be killed in a single day. So many chamois have been shot that their 
number is greatly reduced, and the few that are now taken must be 
sought in the most inaccessible portions of the mountains. We have 
been invited to join hunting parties in the mountains, but have respect- 
fully declined, as we do not wish to leave Mrs. Bassett and Mary behind 
us, and it would be impossi- 
ble for them to accompany tis 
among the rocks and hills." 

When our friends had seen 
the sights of Berne, they held 
a council as to where they 
should go next. 

Frank suggested a visit to 
Interlaken and the Bernese 
Oberland, and thought it 
might be desirable to see some 
of the mountains and glaciers 
of the Bernese region, and 
make a nearer acquaintance 
with them. 

" I think I've seen as many mountains as I care for," said Mrs. Bas- 
sett. "Mont Blanc ought to be a good sample mountain of Switzer- 




THE CHAMOIS. 



364 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

land, and as for the glaciers, those that we have seen will give us an ex- 
cellent and satisfactory idea of what the others may be." 

Like a dutiful girl, Mary did not oppose her mother's ideas of what 
was desirable to be seen, however much she may have wished to spend 
more time among the mountains. She remarked, with a good deal of phi- 
losophy, that she hoped to visit Switzerland again, and was willing to 
leave something to be seen in future visits. 

" I've been studying the map," said Mrs. Bassett, " and think I 
would like to go from here to Bale. By-the-way, what is the right 
spelling and pronunciation of that word? I've seen it spelled three dif- 
ferent ways on the maps and in the guide-books." 

" It is a single syllable, with the a as in father," Frank replied. 

" The Germans pronounce it Bar-sel, in two syllables, and they spell 
it 'Basel;' the French spell it 'Bale,' and the English follow the French 
form, except that they generally add an s. French and English pro- 
nunciations of the word are just the same, ' Bale.' " 

" Well, how about going there ?" 

" It is an interesting city," was the reply, " and well worth visiting. 
Probably more foreigners enter Switzerland by way of Bale than 
through Geneva. The route from London to Switzerland is shorter by 
Bale than Geneva, and so is that from Germany and Russia. Bale 
stands on the Rhine, and it has stood there for a very long time." 

" Then, if no one opposes," said Mrs. Bassett, " we will go to Bale, 
and from there we may find an excursion of interest." 

In accordance with this arrangement the train was taken for that 
city, sixty-six miles from Berne — a ride of about three hours. 

" There was not much of interest in our ride," said Mary, " except 
pretty scenery, which was almost constant from beginning to end of our 
journey. The most important place we passed through was Burgdorf, 
a picturesque town on the side of a hill, and the guide-book says it is a 
busy town, too. It also says it was at the Chateau of Burgdorf, in 1798, 
that Pestalozzi established his famous educational institution. When I 
read this aloud Fred began to quiz me as to what I could tell about 
Pestalozzi, and what he did for education. 

" I put on my thinking cap, and, after wearing it a moment, I said : 

" Pestalozzi was a Swiss teacher and educational reformer, and his 
first name was Johann. Heinrich, or, in English, John Henry. He was 
born in Zurich in 1745, and, after being liberally educated, he tried to be 
a farmer, but failed. Then he wrote a novel and some works on educa- 
tion, and then he established a school at Stanz, and afterwards at Burg- 



PESTAXOZZI AND HIS SYSTEM. 



365 



dorf. This school became celebrated, and so did another, on the same 
plan, which he founded in 1804 at Yverdun." 

" What a memory you have !" exclaimed Fred. 

" Thank you," said Mary, " but that is not all I can tell you about 
Pestalozzi. He was one of the most successful teachers the world had 




SWISS FARM-HOUSE. 



ever seen, and his methods of training and instruction were adopted in 
Germany and other countries of Europe, where they are still in use. 
The great principle of his system was that all teaching should begin 
with the concrete, and proceed from that to the abstract ; for example, 
he taught arithmetic by beginning with the addition of four apples to 
five apples, not by adding the abstract numbers four and five. One of 



366 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



his biographers says that in his hands objects became the subject of 
lessons to develop the reasoning and observing powers of his pupils, 
not lessons about objects. 

" And one thing more about this famous man. . Though he was an 
accomplished and original teacher, he was totally unable to manage his 
business affairs, and all through his life he was in pecuniary difficulties. 
His death was hastened by his mortifications and disappointments, and 
he died before the value of his system of teaching had been generally 
acknowledged by the educational world." 

Frank had telegraphed for rooms at the Three Kings Hotel (Hotel 
des Trois Eois), which stands on the bank of the Rhine, and he found the 
rooms ready on the arrival of his party. Mrs. Bassett welcomed the 
Rhine as an old acquaintance, and it is quite possible that the recol- 
lections of her journey from Cologne to Mayence, as described in The 
Boy Travellers in Northern Europe, formed a part of her incentive to 
visit Bale. Mary was not less enthusiastic than her mother in praise 
of the famous river, and was equally glad to look on it again. 

" According to history," said Fred, " Bale was founded by the Ro- 
mans. It is mentioned as Basilea in the fourth century, and the ruins of 
a Roman fort can be traced at the village of Augst, a few miles from 
here. Bale has been a place of importance since the tenth century. It 
belonged for a time to the kingdom of Burgundy, and afterwards to the 







CROSSING THE RHINE BY MOONLIGHT. 



German empire ; then it joined the Swiss confederation. Its history 
has been marked by several revolts, and it has had its share of the hor- 
rors of war at various epochs. Some of its troubles have come from 
religious quarrels which grew out of the Reformation, in which the Re- 



THE CATHEDRAL OF BALE. 367 

formers generally had the winning side, for the reason that they were 
more numerous than their adversaries." 

" Is not this the place where Luther's writings were printed when 
no other city would permit their publication ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" I cannot say that no other city would allow them to be printed 
within its limits," replied Fred, " but it is a matter of history that Lu- 
ther's writings were printed here from the year 1519, and it was from 
Bale that they were distributed throughout Europe. By 1539 Bale was so 
thoroughly allied to the Reformation that the chapter of the cathedral 
had left the city, and the convents had been suppressed ; and it has 
been a city of the Reformation, or of Protestantism, ever since. Out of 
its fifty thousand inhabitants not more than one-fourth are Catholics." 

Frank suggested that they would visit the cathedral, which is one 
of the oldest and finest in this part of the world ; formerly it was the 
Cathedral of the Apostolic See of Bale, but it has long been a Protes- 
tant church. The bishopric was founded by Charlemagne. The church 
was built in the eleventh century, restored in the twelfth, again restored 
in the thirteenth, after being badly injured by an earthquake, and re- 
paired and decorated at various times in the last four centuries, the 
most recent changes having taken place less than forty years ago. Por- 
tions of the work of every epoch can be seen, and for this reason, if for 
no other, the church is of unusual interest to the student of architecture. 

A great religious council assembled here in the year 1431, for the 
ostensible purpose of " reforming the Church in head and members." 
The members of the council disputed for years without coming to any 
conclusion, and as there seemed no prospect of their agreement, the coun- 
cil was dissolved in 1448. The council-room is preserved in the same 
condition as when the members left it, and our friends contemplated it 
with a great deal of interest. They went through other rooms, Avhich 
contain a fine collection of mediaeval antiquities, and altogether they 
felt amply repaid for the time they spent in the historic building, whose 
towers of red sandstone are a conspicuous object to the traveller ap- 
proaching Bale, no matter from what direction. 

" From the church we went to the museum," said Mary, " where we 
saw an excellent collection of paintings, both old and modern, together 
with drawings by some of the old masters who lived at Bale at some 
periods of their lives. Holbein occupies the most prominent place. 
There is a perplexity about him, as there were two Holbeins, father and 
son, and each bore the name of Hans. Holbein the younger is the 
one of which Bale is especially proud. He lived here for several years, 



368 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



until he was sent to England by the celebrated scholar Erasmus, with a 
letter of introduction to Sir Thomas More. Sir Thomas introduced him 
to Henry YIII. of England. The King gave him all the employment 
he wanted, and also a pension, which he drew regularly until his death 
of the plague in 1554. Some authorities say he died in 1443. 

" They showed us some of Holbein's frescos in the famous ' Dance 
of Death,' and a great number of his drawings. Then we saw some of 




"NATHAN REBUKING DAVID." — [Holbeill.] 



his paintings— I don't know how many, for I was so interested in look- 
ing at the pictures that I didn't think of counting them. Several of 
them are portraits, and they are such as any painter of any period could 
feel proud to have put on canvas. In addition to his skill as a painter, 
Holbein is honored for his work in wood - engraving, and he is often 
spoken of as the father of this kind of illustration. Frank says this is 
not literally the case, as engraving on blocks was known a long time 
before Holbein was born, though undoubtedly this famous artist did 
much towards its development." 



OLD FRIENDS MEET. 



369 



CHAPTER XXL 

MEETING OLD FRIENDS.— THE CHAPMAN FAMILY.— EXCURSION TO THE FALLS OF 
THE RHINE. — A DIVISION INTO TWO PARTIES. —WHAT FRANK AND FRED 
SAW.— LAKE CONSTANCE.— SUMMER HOMES OF NOTED PERSONS.— QUEEN HOR- 
TENSE.— AN UNHAPPY LIFE.— MARTYRDOM OF JOHN HUSS.— THE GREAT COUN- 
CIL AND ITS HALL— RAGATZ AND PFAFFERS.— IN A HOT CAVERN.— THE WAL- 
LENSEE.— ZURICH. — SIGHT -SEEING AND DRESS -MAKING. — UP THE RIGL— 
MARY'S ACCOUNT OF WHAT THEY SAW THERE.— THE RIGI RAILWAY.— ASCENT 
BY COG-WHEELS.— SUNRISE ON THE RIGL— THE ALPINE HORN.— GENERAL VIEW 
FROM THE SUMMIT.— LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS.— LUCERNE. 



WHILE walking through the hallway of the hotel Mrs. Bassett 
met an old friend and neighbor from America. The two wom- 
en rushed into each other's arms like sisters after a ten years' sepa- 
ration ; and it was 
evident to any ob- 
server that their 
greetings were of 
the most friendly 
character. Almost 
in the same breath 
each asked the oth- 
er how she hap- 
pened to be in Bale 
at that particular 
moment. 

Mrs. Bassett ex- 
plained where they 
had been, how it 
happened that they 
came to that city, and also why they put up at that particular hotel. 

Then it was the turn of Mrs. Chapman to answer, " I've just come 
from Wiesbaden," said she, " with my husband and my daughter Katie. 
The doctor ordered Katie there for the baths, and they've done her a 
great deal of good." 

24 




CARVING IN CATHEDRA^ BALE. 



370 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




Presently Ka- 
tie appeared. At 
the same time 
Mary came in 
sight, and the 
greetings of the 
mothers were re- 
peated in those 
of the daughters. 
Then there was 
an adjournment 
to the parlor of 
the hotel, where 
shortly the femi- 
nine contingent 
was joined by 
Mr. Chapman, and by 
Frank and Fred. 
Neither party knew 
that the other was in 
Switzerland or any- 
where near it, and this 
circumstance added mate- 
rially to the interest of the 
meeting. An hour quickly 
passed away in the inter- 
change of experiences and 
information, and 
before the par- 
ties separated it 
was arranged 
that they would 
dine together 
that very clay, 
and discuss plans 
for an excursion to some part of Switzerland in each other's society. 

During dinner it was arranged that they would go the next day to 
the Falls of the Rhine. The details of the excursion were left to Frank, 
and after dinner he excused himself, while he consulted the railway 
time-table and completed his plans. 




SCHAFFHAUSEX 



THE FALLS OF THE RHINE. 371 

In a little while he joined the party in the parlor and unfolded the 
following practical and comprehensive scheme : 

" We will leave here by the train at 9.50 a.m. to-morrow," said he, 
" and go to Neuhausen, the station for the falls of the Ehine. We shall 
be due at ISTeuhausen at 12.45, and it will not take long to see the falls. 
There are two or three trains in the afternoon which will take us to 
Zurich in two hours. We can send our trunks to one of the hotels at 
Zurich, and find them there when we arrive." 

The plan was approved unanimously, and was carried out as indi- 
cated. Mrs. Bassett asked Frank if he was entirely correct as to the 
station for seeing the falls. She had heard they were at Schaffhausen, 
and presumed that Neuhausen might possibly be a nearer station than 
the other place for leaving the train. 

" That is precisely the case," replied Frank. " If you look at this 
map you will see that Is"euhausen is nearer to the falls than the better 
known city. Schaffhausen is above the falls, and the rapids that pre- 
cede them ; and from that place to Lake Constance the Rhine is with- 
out a break, so that it is navigated by steamers and other boats." 

So saying, Frank handed the map to his mother, and as he did so he 
indicated the position of the two towns in question. The course of the 
river from the falls to Lake Constance was also indicated. Mrs. Bas- 
sett studied the map attentively for several minutes, and then declared 
that she had received an excellent lesson in geography. 

The impression made by the falls was not the same on all the mem- 
bers of the party. The girls were charmed with the view, and went 
into raptures over it, while their mothers looked on with a calmness 
that may be credited to experience and riper age. Frank and Fred 
thought America could produce dozens of falls which would surpass 
those of the Rhine, and Mr. Chapman remarked that any water would 
come down just like that if it were put in the bed of the river at 
Schaffhausen and allowed to take its course. 

" The falls of the Rhine," wrote Fred in his journal, " are known 
here as the Lauffen. Mary thinks this local name comes from the fact 
that it is no laughing matter to look at the cascade from any point of 
view. The river here is about three hundred feet wide. All the way 
from Schaffhausen the water tumbles in rapids, and at length breaks 
over the precipitous rocks in three leaps, and not in a single cascade, as 
many people expect to find. On the right bank the fall is about fifty 
feet, while that on the left is perhaps ten feet higher. Adding to this 
the descent of the rapids and a slight break just above the falls, there is 



372 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



a difference of fully one hundred feet between the level of the Rhine at 
the steamboat pier at Schaffhausen and the basin below the falls. 

" We were taken to half a dozen points from which the falls were 
to be seen, and each of them was something ' that should not by any 
means be missed.' The views that we liked best were those from 
Schloss Lauffen, which is on a wood-covered rock on the left bank of 
the river and close to the cataract. From one point we could see the 
falls and the rapicls all at once, and at the foot of the rock there is an 
iron platform overhanging the fall, and so near to it that we could feel 
the spray in our faces and almost touch the plunging stream. 

"Half an hour before we were to take the train for Zurich, Mr. 
Chapman asked Frank and myself if we wanted to go on to Lake Con- 
stance, either by rail or river. 

" ' If you do,' said he, ' I will accompany the ladies to Zurich, and 
wait for }^ou there. They will be perfectly content there for a few 
days, as Zurich is attractive from the shopping and dress-making point 
of view, and, as for myself, I will enjoy seeing them enjoy themselves.' 

" This was a chance not to be missed," continued Fred, " and it 
didn't take two minutes to arrange everything. Mr. Chapman and the 
ladies took the train for Zurich almost at the same moment that Frank 
and I were on the boat for Constance. 

" We had a very delightful ride on the boat, and found the Rhine 
quite as picturesque as on the part of the stream which we had already 
travelled. Perhaps there are not as many castles, nor possibly quite as 
many legends connected with those that exist, but there are certainly 




ARENENBERG. 



CASTLES ON THE UPPER RHINE. 373 

enough of castles and legends to supply any reasonable want. And 
there is history as well as legend to make this part of the Rhine inter- 
esting to any observant traveller. 

" Not far from Stein, which is about half-way from Schaflhausen to 
Constance, our attention was called to several castles and chateaux 
among the trees along the slopes of the hills. The chateau or villa of 
Arenenberg was especially pointed out. It was the home of Queen 
Hortense, the daughter of Josephine, step-daughter of Napoleon I., and 
mother of Napoleon III. She died here in 1837, after being refused a 
home in other countries, where she sought an asylum after the fall of 
the great Emperor. Just think how unhappy she must have been! 
Her father died on the guillotine ; her mother married the great Na- 
poleon, and was divorced to die of a broken heart; Napoleon, her 
step-father, died a prisoner in English hands ; she married a king, Louis 
Bonaparte, who occupied the throne of Holland only four years, and 
then abdicated ; her life with the King was not a happy one, and ended 
in separation and divorce ; and at the time of her death her whole 
family was under the ban in France. 

" Frank reminded me to note that it was Queen Hortense who wrote 
that famous French song, ' Partant pour la Syrie,' which is as popular 
with the soldiers of France as ' Hail, Columbia !' is with those of our 
own land and 'Rule, Britannia!' with the English. 

" Not far from this place is one which is sometimes occupied in sum- 
mer by the Emperor of Germany. Then there is at Mainau a castle 
which belongs to the Grand-duke of Baden, and there are other royal, 
princely, or grand-ducal residences along this part of the Rhine and 
around the shores of Lake Constance. The owners have shown good 
taste in their selections, as there is charming scenery all around, the 
pure air of the mountains is abundant and free, and the waters are 
pleasing to look upon, to drink, or to bathe in. What more could one 
ask in selecting a summer residence ?" 

When Fred read the above to Frank, the latter said there was one 
thing he had not mentioned which made the place attractive to royalty. 

" What is that ?" queried Fred. 

" Don't you see," replied Frank, " when you look at the map ?" 

Fred studied the map for a few minutes, and then remarked : 

"I think I understand what you mean. Lake Constance is only 
forty-two miles long and eight miles across in its widest part; but, small 
as it is, the shores of the lake represent five different Governments : 
Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria, Baden, and Wiirtemberg, with Italy not 

24* 



374 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



so very far away on the other side of the mountains. Thrones are un- 
certain seats at best, and it is well for the occupant of a throne to have 
a retreat where several different Governments are within easy reach. Is 

that your idea?" 

" Precisely," was 
the reply. " Any royal 
or imperial exile would 
be reasonably safe here, 
as the people are dem- 
ocratic, and consider a 
king or emperor just as 
good as any of their 
own people — so long 
as he behaves himself. 
They are liberal in 
their views, as they 
welcomed Queen Hor- 
tense when Geneva re- 
fused its permission for 
her to live in that 
city." 

" We found Con- 
stance an interesting 
old place," said Fred, 
" though much smaller 
than it was in former 
times. Once it had 
40,000 inhabitants, but 
there are now not more 
than 12,000 in the lim- 
its of the city. Con- 
stance was once a free 
castle of mainau, lake Constance. C1 ty oi the German em- 

pire. After the Ref- 
ormation it was subject to Austria, and in 1805 the Treaty of Pres- 
burg gave it to the Grand-duchy of Baden. We visited the cathedral, 
which was founded in 1052, and was rebuilt, substantially as we find it 
now, in the early part of the sixteenth century. Then we went to the 
hall of the Great Council, which was summoned to meet here in the 
year 1414, and continued its sessions for four years. According to his- 




GREAT COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 



375 




SUMMER RESIDENCE OF GERMAN EMPEROR. 



tory, the Council consisted of the Emperor Sigismund, Pope John 
XXIII., 26 princes, 140 counts, 20 cardinals, 7 patriarchs, 20 arch- 
bishops, 91 bishops, 600 doctors and prelates, and about 4^000 priests ! 
What a convention it must have been ! But probably they were not all 
assembled at one time. This was the Council that deposed three rival 
popes and elected another (Martin V.), and its most famous — or infa- 
mous — act Avas the arrest, condemnation, and burning at the stake of 
the great Reformer, John Huss, and that other Reformer, Jerome of 
Prague, in consequence of their religious teachings. 

" We saw the great hall where the Council held its meetings ; it 
measures 150 feet by 100, and is now used as a market-place. The Do- 
minican monastery where Huss was kept a prisoner happens to be the 
hotel to which we went, and so we did not have to take a walk in order 
to see it. We did have to walk, though, to see the house where Huss 
was arrested, and there is no mistaking the place, as it is marked by a 
tablet and a bust of the martyr. A guide wished to show us the spot 
outside the town where Huss and Jerome were burned to death, but we 
declined his offer to take us there. We preferred devoting the time to 
a row on the lake and to sight-seeing of a less painful character — so 
far as the recollections were concerned." 

From Constance, Frank and Fred went to the farther end of the 
lake by steamboat, terminating their voyage at Bregenz. They found 
the scenery less wild and interesting than that of Geneva Lake, but it 
was by no means monotonous or devoid of beauty. From Bregenz they 







went by rail to Eagatz, 

whence they paid a 

brief visit to Pfaffers, both places 

being famous for baths. Here is 

what Frank said about them : 

"Ragatz has the general ap- 
pearance of a popular watering- 
place in Europe, as it has its kursaal, reading- 
room, bath-house, promenade, music pavilion, 
and the other attributes of a fashionable resort. 
It is a village rather than a town, as it has less 
than two thousand inhabitants, and until 1840 
was of very little consequence. In that year 
the former residence of the abbots of Pfaffers was converted into a 



TILLAGE OF PFAFFERS, NEAR 
KAGATZ. 



HOT BATHS AT RAGATZ AND PFAFFERS. 



377 



hotel and bathing establishment, and since then other hotels and board- 
ing-houses have come into existence. Fifty thousand people are said to 
come here every year, their patronage being divided between Ragatz 
and Pfaffers, and some years there are more. 

" Pfaffers is not quite three miles from Eagatz by the road, and 500 
feet above it in elevation. It lies in a gorge of the Tamina (not Tarn, 
many) River, and the gorge is so narrow that it often threatens to 
crowd the road into the creek. We were under the impression that the 
baths and village of Pfaffers were one and the same, but before leaving 
Ragatz we learned that we were mistaken ; they are quite distinct, and 
some distance apart. We went first to Bad -Pfaffers, or the bathing- 
place, and found it a large building, with a gloomy exterior but very 
comfortable on the inside. The water in which people bathe gushes 
out in a great volume ; it is as clear as any water you ever saw, and 
has neither taste nor smell, and the temperature keeps very close to 
100° Fahrenheit during the entire year. The water from Rad-Pfaffers is 
carried to Ragatz in a large conduit, and the only advantage of Pfaffers 
over Ragatz is that you get your baths nearer the source. 

" We went up the gorge to the springs, about a quarter of a mile from 
the bathing -house. The gorge is narrow and gloomy ; it is from thirty 
to fifty feet wide, and its bottom is occupied by the noisy Tamina, 
which dashes furiously over the rocks in the bed of the ravine. There 
is a wooden pathway fastened to the side of the ravine thirty feet or 
more above the river, and in some places the rocks fairly hang over 
you, and seem ready to fall at any moment. At the end of the walk 
is a great cavern whence the hot spring issues. We went into the cav- 
ern but did not stay long — perhaps two minutes. It was like going into 
the engine-room of an ocean steamship in the tropics, or, if anything, 
somewhat worse. The steam blinds and the heat suffocates so that 
one is glad to get to the outer air again. 

"At the hotels and in the bath-houses we met several Americans, 
and when we were going up the ravine to the springs we met two or 
three of our countrymen who had just come out of the cavern, and were 
wiping the dense perspiration from their foreheads. Ragatz is a favor- 
ite resort of Americans, who go there to be treated for rheumatism, 
difficulties of the stomach, and kindred maladies. General Grant is one 
of the Americans who have visited Ragatz, and the inhabitants are man- 
ifestly inclined to remember his name among other distinguished patrons 
of their very popular medicinal establishment. 

" The scenery around Ragatz is magnificent, and there are many ex- 



378 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



cursions to be made in the neighborhood by those Avhose constitutions 
are strong enough to endure the exertion. We did not stay long enough 
to climb any of the mountains in the vicinity. A day sufficed for our in- 
spection of the baths, and then we departed in the direction of Zurich, tak- 
ing the train that carried us past the Wallen-See, or Lake of Wallenstadt. 
" It isn't a large lake, as it is only twelve miles long and perhaps two 
in width, but I don't believe there is a prettier lake in all Switzerland. 
It is said to be five hundred feet deep in some places, and its waters re- 




THE WALLEN-SEE. 



semble those of Lake Leman in 

4 *V- £ color. On one side there are steep 

* mountains, while on the other are 

gentle slopes of land, with field, 

forest, and village following field, forest, and village again. The villages 

are thoroughly alpine in their character. If we had been blindfolded 



ZURICH AND ITS ATTRACTIONS. 379 

and narcotized, and then brought here and allowed to look around, we 
should have said without a moment's hesitation, ' This must be Switzer- 
land, the land of William Tell.' 

"At Rapperschwyl we caught the steamer that took us through 
Zurich Lake to Zurich City. We telegraphed to Mr. Chapman that 
we were coming, and the whole party was at the landing to meet us." 

Mary will tell us what she saw at Zurich previous to the arrival of 
her brother and cousin from their roundabout trip. 

" I thought Zurich was a larger city than it proves to be, but per- 
haps I have been spoiled by Geneva and Bale. It has only a trifle over 
twenty thousand inhabitants, but it is pretty enough to have twice or 
three times that number. It's a very old place, though, as it was a 
Roman settlement. The Romans called it Turicum, and this Roman 
name has in eighteen centuries been twisted into ' Zurich.' It has ex- 
tensive suburbs, which contain more people than are found in the city 
itself, and altogether it is a very busy and prosperous place. 

" We had heard that it was a good place to buy silks, and that the 
dress-makers understood their business thoroughly. There are 10,000 
silk-looms in the canton, so the guide-book says; the manager of the 
hotel places the number at 20,000, but of course he is interested in 
drawing custom to the place, and may be relied upon to give unreliable 
information. There are many cotton factories and other industrial es- 
tablishments in the neighborhood, and everybody that we have seen, ex- 
cept the strangers and travellers like ourselves, appears to be doing 
something to earn a living. 

" The view from Zurich reminds us, in general, of that from Geneva, 
but when we come to take it in detail it is quite different. We can see 
in the distance the snowy peaks of the Alps, in front of us is the lake, 
and all around are pretty villages, grassy and hilly slopes, and gay vine- 
yards. The air is clear, and it comes fresh from the mountains ; but 
when the wind does not blow we find the reflections from the lake a 
trifle too warm for comfort. There is a pretty garden on the shore of 
the lake, and it reminded us very much of the garden at the lake front 
in Geneva, where we sat and enjoyed the view. 

" But I'm forgetting the old buildings in the city, and some of them 
are so very old that Mr. Chapman said we ought to take off our hats to 
them. There is the cathedral, which was begun in the eleventh cen- 
tury, and has undergone very few changes in modern times ; of course 
we went to see it, and also to the town library and the museum. In 
the town library they showed us some autograph letters of Lady Jane 



380 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Grey, Frederick the Great, Henry IV. of France, and other noted peo- 
ple. Mr. Chapman said he did not consider them of much consequence, 
as they were not at all well written and not even legible. 

"When we came here we lost no time in finding a dress-making 
establishment, and negotiating for the new frocks that we thought we 




CLOISTER OF ZURICH CATHEDRAL. 



wanted. Evidently they are accustomed to doing things in a hurry, as 
they promised to have our dresses complete in two days and ready for 
delivery. The prices were very much less than those of Paris, and we 
cannot see that the Swiss silks are in any way different from those of 
France. "We are very well satisfied with our purchases, although three 
days instead of two were required for completing the work; but I'll 
whisper confidentially that none of us expected anything else, and so 
we were not disappointed in the result." 

An excursion was made to the top of the Uetliberg, a mountain 
2800 feet above the sea -level and 1500 feet above the surface of Lake 
Zurich. It overlooks the lake and city, and gives a fine view of the 
mountains in the distance and a considerable extent of country at its 
base. The excursion is a very easy one to make, as it is accomplished 
by railway, the trains being pushed by locomotives behind them. The 
grade of the road is seven feet in one hundred, and there are no cogs, as 



A COG-WHEEL RAILWAY. 381 

in the celebrated railway up the Rigi, the adhesion of the wheels of the 
locomotive on the rails being quite sufficient. 

From the summit of this mountain the Rigi was pointed out, and 
Mrs. Bassett asked if they were likely to go there. 

""We'll put the question to a popular vote," said Frank. "All in 
favor of the Rigi, please raise the right hand !" 

There was no occasion to call for a negative vote, as all hands rose 
to the affirmative without hesitation. 

" All right !" exclaimed Frank ; " the Rigi it is. Mr. Chapman and 
I will arrange the details for the excursion." 

On their return to Zurich the telegraph was set in operation, and 
rooms at the hotel on the Rigi were secured for the following night. 
The morning train was taken for Zug, twenty -four miles away, and then 
a steamboat carried them the nine miles that comprise the length of the 
lake of Zug. The steamboat landed them at Arth, and as they stepped 
on shore their attention was drawn to a queer-looking locomotive, which 
appeared ready to tumble over unless propped up. 

" Let me introduce you to an American," said Frank to his mother, 
as he pointed to this curiosity on the railway track. 

" Surely that cannot be a countryman of ours," replied Mrs. Bassett, 
as she directed her gaze towards a man in a blue blouse, who stood by 
the side of the engine as if waiting for orders. 

" Not the man, mother," said the youth, " but the locomotive." 

"Was that locomotive built in America?" she asked, in a tone of 
surprise mingled with contempt. 

" Probably not," responded Frank ; " but the system was invented 
in our country for the ascent of Mount Washington. The Mount 
Washington Railway was begun in 1866, and as soon as its success was 
determined some enterprising speculators from Switzerland visited the 
United States and inspected the new scheme. Then they began the 
construction of the Rigi Railway, and since the completion of this line 
several others have been built in various parts of Europe." 

" I suppose that, like most other inventions, this was considered a 
very visionary one at first," remarked Mrs. Bassett. 

"Yes," replied Frank; " when the projector of the Mount Washington 
Railway asked for a charter from the New Hampshire Legislature, the 
proposal was received with laughter, and one member rose and moved 
that the gentleman be allowed to build a railway to the moon. The 
scheme was considered of so little moment that some of the members 
were inclined to drop it altogether, on the ground that their time should 



382 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

not be wasted upon absurdities of that sort. The charter was finally 
obtained, and you know the result." 

Our friends were soon seated in the train, and the ascent of the 
Eigi was begun. Mrs. Bassett observed that the locomotive, which 
seemed ready to tip over while on a level, was all right when it reached 
the slope of the mountain. She noted that between the ordinary rails 
there were two other rails equipped with teeth, and that a cog-wheel 
on the locomotive fitted into these teeth. The turning of this cog-wheel 
moved the train along. 

The speed did not exceed three miles an hour, or certainly it was 
not much above that figure. Frank told his mother that the grade was 
one foot in five on the line they were travelling, while on the other side 
of the mountain, from Bigi Culm to Lake Lucerne, the gradient was one 
foot in four. The line from Lake Lucerne is the oldest portion, and 
was begun in 1869. The locomotives are of 120 horse-power, with up- 
right boilers, and they are so constructed that while they push the 
trains up by means of steam-power, they regulate the descent by ad- 
mitting air to the cylinders and using no steam whatever. In case of 
accident the motion of the trains can be checked instantly ; and it is 
claimed that there are four ways of stopping a train, each of them in- 
dependent of all the others. In ascending the mountain the locomotive 
is always behind the train ; never in front of it. 

Less than two hours from the time they started from Arth the party 
had reached the summit of the Bigi and found their rooms in the hotel. 
On the way up the mountain they had tried to enjoy the scenery, but 
their position was not such as to enable them to study the view to ad- 
vantage. On reaching the summit they lost no time in taking in the 
scene that is presented to the eye of the traveller at that commanding 
point. Here is what Mary said about it : 

" I feel that I can give but a faint idea of the scenery from the top 
of the Bigi. One ought to haA^e a painted panorama a mile or two in 
length to do the subject justice ; and with the panorama there should 
be a lecture requiring not less than an hour for delivery. Not having 
the panorama and lecture, I'll do the best I can without them. 

"The Bigi isn't a lofty mountain, as it is only a trifle more than 5900 
feet above sea-level, and 4472 feet above Lake Lucerne. It is covered 
with grass to the summit, so that any one coming here to see glaciers 
and heavy snow-banks will be disappointed. It is steep on the north 
side, but on the south it slopes away very gently for a mountain, and is 
covered with pastures and fields. The name Bigi is generally applied 



ON THE RIGI. 



3S3 




where we are now, but it really belongs 

tains that lie between Lake Zurich and 

are very much by themselves. 

the view from here embraces 

in circumference, or 



only to the peak 
to a group of moun- 
Lake Lucerne, and 

" I am told that 
a territory 300 miles 
100 miles in diam- 
eter. The horizon 
to the south is filled 
with the chain of 
the snowy Alps, and 
from this elevation we 
can take in from one 
end of the chain to 
the other, a distance of 
120 miles. To name the peaks 
in sight would be to name nearly 
the whole of the Alpine range, and 
I forbear. Between us and the snow-covered 
mountains are the lower peaks of the range. 
The snow of last winter has melted from 
them, and they lie bleak and dark in the mass- 
es of rock towards their summits and the forests and fields at their base. 
Close at our feet is the slope of the Bigi, with the grass extending to 
where we stand, and covering the very peak with its soft carpet. 

" Now let us turn to the north and note the contrast. Down the 
precipitous sides of the Eigi we look upon fields, farms, towns, villages, 
roads, lakes, rivers, and every other feature that goes to make up the 
landscape of a region like that wdiich lies between us and the northern 
boundary of Switzerland. The whole of Lake Zug is in sight, and so is 
a large part of Lakes Lucerne and Zurich. With a good map of the 
region before you, and time to spare, } T ou can study geography in the 
best of all ways ; but we are too busy with the attractions of the picture 
to attend to anything so practical as that. 

" The next time you have the opportunity, go into the gallery of a 
great hall and look upon the floor below. ISTow imagine that the floor 
is covered with a green carpet, and the carpet marked off into patches 
of different sizes and shapes ; then imagine that it contains streaks of 
silver, winding irregularly as they take their way to plates of silver, 
whose edges are irregular, and whose shapes — in some cases, at least — 
are more than irregular. Thus you have the rivers and lakes that are 



MOUNT ■WASHINGTON RAILWAY 

PARENT OF THE RIGI LINE. 



384 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



seen from the Rigi. You can imagine the mountains, hills, and forests 
that lie to the south, but after you have exhausted your brain in con- 
juring up a picture you will still be far short of the reality. 

" We watched the sunset from the top of the mountain. The effect 
was magnificent, but it was a good deal spoiled by the noise of the 
crowd around us, and the sounds of an Alpine horn which was blown 
bj a fellow with more persistence than musical taste. After annoying 
everybody, he passed his hat for contributions, and I was glad to see 
that most people refused to give. The same man was around early the 
next morning to call everybody for the sunrise. We retired immediately 
after sunset, in order to be up in season for the grand sight of the Rigi. 
Mr. Chapman suggested that it Avas inconvenient to have the sun come 



m 





W^^^^M 



VSmSm 

■K 






' ■■-" ; 

,. ,. ■-■■■■ v ■-■ 



Slllli 




MOUNTAIN AND VALLKY. 



SUNRISE ON THE RIGI-CULM. 385 

up so early in the day, and he wondered why it could not be arranged 
to have sunrise occur about noon, or possibly an hour earlier. 

" We were well repaid for our exertion, and were favored with a 
clear morning for the view. It was dark when we reached the mount- 
ain-top, but very soon there was a streak of light in the east which blot- 
ted out the stars one by one, leaving the brightest to the last. Then 
the streak became a band of gold at the edge of the sky, and from this 
band there was reflected a yellowish tinge upon the peaks of snow. 
Brighter and brighter grew the tinge, the yellow turned to pale rose, 
and this again to pink and scarlet ; and as it spread along the mountains 
and sank into the valleys, the whole scene gradually revealed itself, as 
a picture develops upon a photographic plate. The mountains glow, 
the dark valleys are lighted up, the fields and roads evolve themselves 
from the shadows, the air loses its chilliness, the warmth and glow and 
light increase moment after moment, till at length the sun displays its 
disk from behind the distant peaks, and you take a long breath of relief 
as the crowd melts away in the direction of the hotel, and the Alpine 
horn ceases its melancholy twang." 

All travellers are not as fortunate as were our friends, as it often 
happens that the Rigi is enveloped in clouds at the hour of sunrise, and 
here, as elsewhere in the world, the sun makes no postponement on 
account of the weather. Sometimes it happens that the top of the 
mountain is clear, while the region below is covered with clouds, and 
occasionally visitors to the Rigi have the novelty of looking upon a 
thunder-shower far below them, while all is clear and bright where they 
stand and the skies above are cloudless. 

From the Rigi our friends descended by way of Yitznau and the 
Lake of the Four Cantons, better known, perhaps, as Lake Lucerne. 
At Yitznau they took the steamboat for Lucerne, where they finished 
the day very agreeably, and went the next morning on an excursion to 
Fliielen, at the other end of the lake. 

25 



386 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE, 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

SCENERY OF LAKE LUCERNE.— WILLIAM TELL.— SPRINGS OF THE RUTLL— TELL'S 
CHAPEL.— DOUBTS CONCERNING THE TELL TRADITIONS.— THE AXENSTRASSE.— 
SAINT GOTHARD RAILWAY AND TUNNEL. — A SPIRAL RAILWAY. — HOW THE 
SAINT GOTHARD TUNNEL WAS BUILT.— MACHINE-DRILLS AND THEIR WORK— 
EXACTNESS OF ENGINEERING.— HOW THE TWO ENDS OF THE TUNNEL MET IN 
THE MOUNTAIN.— CERTAIN TERMS EXPLAINED.— INSPECTING THE TUNNEL.— 
AIR LOCOMOTIVES, AND HOW THEY ARE MADE.— LONGEST TUNNELS IN THE 
WORLD.— A TELEGRAM FROM DOCTOR BRONSON.— THE ARLBERG TUNNEL.— 
FROM LUCERNE TO INNSBRUCK. — THE ENGADINE VALLEY. — ARRIVAL AT 
INNSBRUCK. 



THE travellers agreed without a dissenting voice that the Lake of 
Lucerne was not to be surpassed in beauty and magnificence of 

scenery by any body of inland water that they had seen in Europe. In 

every direction there were mountains; in some places they came ab- 
ruptly to the 
shore of the 
lake, while in 
others there 
were interven- 
ing slopes of 
field and forest, 
and here and 
there a bit of 
level ground. 
Villas, castles, 
hotels, and 
other edifices 
showed that the 
country was far 

from being uninhabited, and, judging by their appearance, some of the 

structures could evidently boast an age of centuries. 

" This is the region that the poet Schiller has made famous as the 

scene of the exploits of William Tell," said Frank. 




DRILLING MACHINE. 



WILLIAM TELL AND HIS EXPLOITS. 387 

" I was reading about thern," said Mary ; " and when we pass the 
springs of the Eutli and TelFs Chapel I think I'll be able to point them 
out, provided the description is correct." 

" What are the springs of the Eutli 2" queried Mrs. Bassett. " I 
don't think I've heard of them." 

" The tradition is," the girl answered, " that there is a point near the 
lake where the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden meet. 
On the night of November 7, 1307, thirty-three men from these cantons 
met at this spot, and bound themselves by an oath to give their lives, 
their fortunes, and their honor to freeing their land from the oppressors 
that then held it. Here is the description of it from Schiller's ' William 
Tell:' 

' ■ ' On the lake's left bank, 
As we sail hence to Brunnen right against 
The Mythenstein, deep hidden in the wood 
A meadow lies, by shepherds called the Rootli, 
Because the wood has been uprooted there. 
'Tis where our canton's boundaries verge on yours ; 
Thither by lonely by-paths let us wend 
At midnight and deliberate o'er our plans.'" 

" Is that where the three springs are ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" Yes ; the tradition is that where the three conspirators, the leaders 
from each of the three cantons, stood up and took their oath of fidelity 
to each other, three springs burst forth, and have been flowing ever 
since. At any rate, the springs are there, and I suppose it is proper to 
believe the rest of the story." 

" Did you not tell us at Geneva that the story of Tell's exploit with 
the arrow and apple on his son's head is supposed to be a myth," Mrs. 
Bassett asked, as she turned towards Frank. 

" That is the belief of men who have investigated the story," was 
the reply. "They show that the chroniclers of Tell's time make no 
mention of the exploit, and it did not appear until a century and a half 
after the alleged occurrence. Modern writers show that the legend 
was taken bodily from Norse chronicles of the tenth century, wherein 
the wicked King Harold ordered an archer named Toko to pierce an 
apple on the head of his son. • Toko told the boy to turn his head so 
that their eyes should not meet and thus disturb his aim ; then he took 
three arrows, and with the first he hit the apple. The King asked him 
what the other arrows were for, and Toko answered, ' The second should 
have pierced thy heart, and the third that of any one who moved.' So 



388 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



you see that the apple story is three hundred years older than the time 
of "William Tell and the tyrant Gesler." 

" But there is TelPs Chapel," said Mary, pointing to the structure, 
which is said to have been erected by the Canton of Uri, in 1388, on the 

spot where Tell 
sprang from 
Gesler's boat. 

"It is of a 
much later con- 
struction than 
that," Frank an- 
swered ; " but it 
will do no harm 
to accept it as 
a genuine mon- 
ument." 

" I wonder if 
they have the 
real apple and 
arrow preserved 
there," said 
Mr. Chapman. 
" Those things 
we might possi- 
bly accept as 
genuine, and 
also the hat of 
the tyrant Ges- 
ler, provided it 
is not a silk one, 
with the label 
of a New York 
or London hat 
manufacturer on the inside lining or on the box that contains it." 

" Let us come to things of more modern times," said Fred ; " and we 
will dismiss Tell and his traditions with the regret that the pretty story 
has been spoiled by investigation. There does appear to have been a 
man named Tell among those who fought to relieve the Forest Cantons 
from the rule of the tyrants which the Austrian House of Hapsburg 
had placed over them. The patriots allied themselves with the cause 




VILLAGE SCENE. 



HOW THE SWISS SECURED INDEPENDENCE. 



389 



of the rival monarch, Adolph of Nassau, and during the struggle he con- 
firmed their ancient privileges. After the Hapsburgs were driven out 
Adolph took away the privileges he had granted, but his rule seems 
to have been quite mild by comparison with that of his predecessor. 
The Swiss did not remain content till they had secured their independ- 
ence. In one form and another, the struggle lasted for 200 years 
after the time of Tell, and ended in the independence of the cantons." 

Between Tell's chapel and the end of the lake Frank called atten- 
tion to a road, which was cut in the side of the mountain that came 
down with a precipitous side to the water's edge. 

" That is the Axenstrasse," said Frank, " and it is an excellent speci- 
men of Swiss road-making. In some places it is in the form of an open 
shelf in the rock, while in others 
it consists of tunnels with open- 
ings at the side for the admission 
of light." 

" There's a railway there, too," 
said Mary. " See the train dart- 




THE AXENSTKASSE. 



390 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

ing in and out of the tunnels, and winding along the side of the lake. 
It must have been a bold engineer who placed the railway there." 

" The line is a new one," said Mr. Chapman, " and was built quite 
recently, as a link in the Saint Gothard route through the Alps." 

" Please tell us about it," said Katie — " I mean the Saint Gothard 
tunnel. I'm sure all would like to know about it." 

" Certainly we would," said Mrs. Bassett, and the rest of the party 
expressed a similar desire for information. 

Thus encouraged, Mr. Chapman spoke substantially as follows : 

" You have heard of the Mont Cenis Tunnel, the one under the Savoy 
Alps, between France and Italy, have you not ?" he asked, beginning 
his story with a question, which is the way of some people. 

All the party indicated a knowledge of that route of travel. JSText 
he asked if they knew of the railway over the Brenner Pass, between 
Italy and Austria, and this question received a similar assent. 

" "Well," continued the gentleman, " Germany and Switzerland found 
that these two routes were taking away much of their trade and travel 
with Italy, and unless they were willing to lose the business altogether 
it was necessary for them to create a new route about midway between 
the two. They decided upon the Saint Gothard route, and induced 
Italy to join them in granting large subsidies to the construction of the 
road, which was altogether too great an undertaking for private capital 
to engage in with any hope of profit. 

" You have seen how the railway along the lake runs through tun- 
nels. "Well, there are tunnels on the Saint Gothard route amounting in 
all to more than twenty-two miles, in a total distance of one hundred 
and eight miles from Lake Lucerne in Switzerland to Lake Maggiore in 
Italy ; this includes the great central tunnel." 

" Twenty-two miles of underground riding in travelling one hundred 
and eight miles !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett. " The scenery must be some- 
what monotonous on that journey." 

" Yes, it is, in the tunnels," was the reply ; " but it is magnificent on 
the other four-fifths of the route. Tunnel scenery is pretty much the 
same all the world over. But there's a peculiarity about these tunnels 
that was never before adopted on a railway line." 

" What is that ?" 

" Seven of them are built in a spiral form inside the mountains 
where they are. "Wind a string around your finger in the form of a 
screw and you can have an idea of the shape of these tunnels." 

"Why did they make them that way?" 



A SPIRAL TUNNEL. 



391 



" In order to gain ele- 
vation. The Swiss end 
of the tunnel is at Ges- 
chenen, 3639 feet above 
the sea, and more than 
2200 feet above Lake Lu- 
cerne. It is less than 
twenty miles from the 
lake to Geschenen, and 
so it was necessary to have 
the road twist around a 
good deal in order to 
avoid too steep a grade. 
It was found cheaper to 
do the twisting in tunnels 
rather than in the open 
air, and that is the reason 
for the spirals in the 
mountains." 

"I understand," said 
Mrs. Bassett. " It is just 
for the same reason that 
we make a spiral or wind- 
ing staircase in a house 
where a straight one 
would be too steep." 

" That is it exactly," 
replied Mr. Chapman. 
" Some of these winding 
tunnels are more than a 
mile in le'ngth, but they 
are mere trifles compared 
to the main tunnel, which 
is nine and a half miles 
long from the Swiss to 
the Italian end." 

" How T did they make 
it, and how long did it take them to get through from one country 
to the other?" Mrs. Bassett asked, evidently with a great deal of interest. 

" The work was begun in 1872 and finished in 1881," was the reply ; 




SAINT GOTHARD PASS. 



392 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" and the cost of it was over sixty millions of dollars. There was a 
mistake in the calculations of the expense which was placed at about 
half of what it ultimately proved to be. This mistake caused a delay 
in the completion of the work, which was altogether suspended for a 
time while the additional money was being raised. 

" Now as to the way the tunnel was made : I was here soon after 
they began operations, and went into the tunnel as far as it was then 
completed. And here comes in a bit of history as to boring in rock." 
"What is that?" 

" Down to about the year 1860 tunnelling in rock had been done 
with hand-drills. Hand-drills were used for three years on the Mont 
Cenis Tunnel, which was begun in 1857; and the necessity of increasing 
the rate of progress led to the invention of machine-drills." 
" Who invented them ?" Fred asked. 

" The invention has been claimed in America, England, Italy, and 
France," was the reply ; " and it is fair to say that all those countries 
have been concerned in bringing the machine-drill to its present state of 
perfection. An Englishman invented, in 1855, a drill to be operated by 
steam-power, and about the same time an Italian engineer devised a 
process of compressing air by means of water-power, so as to use it in 
propelling trains up a slope of the Apennines. The Mont Cenis Tunnel 
was then under consideration, and when work was begun on it in 1857 

this same Ital- 
ian engineer, M. 
Sommellier, was 
engaged upon 
it. The drilling 
was done by 
hand, and when 
M. Sommellier 
heard of the 
English steam- 
drill he con- 
ceived the idea 
of combining it 
with his com- 
pressed-air pow- 
er machine, and using the combination for boring through the Alps. 

" He combined the two inventions, and the engineering world knows 
how successful the power-drill has been. American inventors have im- 




AIR- COMPRESSOR. 



DRILLING BY MACHINERY. 



393 



proved upon the original, 
and while the Mont Cenis 
and Saint Gothard tunnels 
were bored with the drills 
of Sommellier and other Eu- 
ropean inventors, the Hoosac 
Tunnel in Massachusetts, and 
also many other American 
tunnels, have been bored by 
American machines. The air 
that works the drills is the 
pure air from outside. As 
it does its work and is re- 
leased, it fills the space at 
the end of the tunnel, and 
thus serves an excellent pur- 
pose in the way of much- 
needed ventilation. 

" The machine-drills are 
arranged so that they can 
be worked singly, the air 
being supplied by a flexible 
pipe; or several of them 
may be mounted side by 
side on a frame, and made 
to attack the face of the 
rock simultaneously. Holes 
are drilled in the rock in the 
same way as by hand-drills, 
only very much more rap- 
idly. Then the holes are 
charged with explosives, and 
b\ T means of an electric wire 
the charges are fired simul- 
taneously. Before the explo- 
sion the machines are drawn 

back a short distance, and the workmen retire to a place of safetv. 
After the explosion the smoke is driven away by the admission of air 
through the pipes, the broken stone is removed, and the place is made 
ready for renewed drilling, to be followed by another blast. Day and 




A STREET IN A1R0L0. 



394 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

night the work goes steadily on — week after week, month after month, 
and year after year — till at length the workmen from the opposite sides 
meet in the middle of the mountain, and the tunnel is completed." 

" You say they meet in the middle of the mountain !" Mrs. Bassett 
remarked. " How can they start on opposite sides of a mountain miles 
away and out of sight, and know they are going to meet in the mid- 
dle of it ? That's what I can't understand." 

" That is a matter of science in surveying," was the reply. " The 
surveys were made over the mountain, and required the most exact cal- 
culations. That they were exact is shown by the circumstances that 
when the ends of the tunnel met in the middle of the mountain they 
were only a fraction of an inch out of the way. In the Mont Cenis Tun- 
nel they were only a few inches from meeting exactly, and any modern 
engineer would be ashamed of himself if he made an error of half a foot 
in his calculations concerning the point of meeting. 

" And the surveys are made under great disadvantages," he con- 
tinued. " The surveyors must climb the rugged sides of the mountains, 
and very often they are among the snows and whirlwinds of elevated 
points, where their lives are in peril. They must keep to their line, no 
matter where it carries them ; and not infrequently they are suspended 
over precipices or down the sides of steep cliffs by means of ropes, and 
in these dangerous and uncomfortable positions they must manipulate 
the most delicate instruments used in their profession. The wonder is 
that they are able to locate a line so that when the work is pushed for- 
ward the ends of the tunnel ever meet at all." 

Mrs. Bassett agreed with him, and said she never knew before the 
exactness of the work of the skilled surveyor. 

" In reading about tunnels," she continued, " I have found things I 
did not understand. I got all confused with galleries, drifts, headings, 
and I don't know what else. Please explain them to me, and perhaps 
the rest of the party will be as grateful as I am for the explanation." 

" Well," was the reply, " the gallery is the tunnel as it is first cut in 
the rock, the heading is the most advanced portion of the gallery, and 
the drift is the most advanced portion of the heading. You see, they 
do not cut the whole and complete tunnel all at once. They bore a hole 
where the drift is to be, and a few holes around it in a circle, perhaps 
two feet in diameter and a yard or more in depth. Then they make a 
blast to open up this space, and when it is opened they drill a circle of 
holes around the space, and then charge and explode them. The rock 
breaks in the direction where it is weakest, and this is towards the space 



HOW A TUNNEL IS MADE. 



395 



in the centre. The process is continued, the circle being enlarged each 
time till the gallery is completed and a new heading is made." 
" Do they finish the whole tunnel as they go along ?" 
" Sometimes they do, but not generally. Much depends upon the 
character of the rock where they are working. If it is very soft, the 
arching must be done at once, to keep the roof from falling, or perhaps 
slowly sinking down till it closes up the tunnel altogether. Where the 
rock is hard the arching is done very leisurely, and sometimes the 
gallery is pushed ahead for a mile or more at a height just sufficient for 
the men to work, the rest of the rock being blasted away and removed 
to the outside by other gangs of men. 

"When I went into the tunnel," said Mr. Chapman, "I had to put 
on a suit of miner's clothing to save my own garments from injury. 




AIR-LOCOMOTIVE. 



The clothes they gave me appeared to be composed of equal parts of 
mud and cotton, with enough petroleum to give them a strong odor. 
Then they gave me a thick felt hat, and a pair of boots which rose 
above the knee. My conductor explained that there was a great deal 



396 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




■- ••■••"- • ■"■■-•aP £l.Zlifc ::J - : ->fe ' 

CROSS-SECTION OF GALLERY. 



• / 



of water in the tunnel, and they were constantly finding new seams of 
it. For convenience of drainage, the tunnel slopes upward from each 
end to the point of meeting. The slope on the Geschenen, or northern 

end, is six feet in 
1000; ontheAirolo, 
or southern end, it is 
one foot in 1000 feet. 
" We were taken 
into the tunnel by 
an air -locomotive — 
the first engine of 
the kind I had ever 
seen." 

" What is an air- 
locomotive?" one of 
the listeners asked. 

"It is a locomo- 
tive in which com- 
pressed air is the mo- 
tive-power instead of 
steam. The propel- 
ling machinery is much like that of the ordinary locomotive; but in 
place of the boiler and fire-box with a glowing fire there is a cylin- 
der that looks like a great boiler without a funnel. Air at the pressure 
of twelve or fifteen atmospheres (180 to 225 pounds to the square inch) 
is forced into this cylinder, and this is the power that drives the loco- 
motive along the railway track." 

" How do they compress the air ?" 

" The compression is done near the entrance of the tunnel, where 
there is a shed containing a long row of compressors, which are noth- 
ing more nor less than the great air-pumps, propelled by the river that 
comes down from the mountain-side, and had been wasting its force for 
thousands of years until the engineers came along and harnessed it. 
Really, it is the river Reuss that has bored the Saint Gothard Tunnel, 
or the northern half of it ; the river works the air-compressors, and the 
compressed air is carried in pipes into the mountain,where it operates the 
drills and ventilates the gallery, so that the workmen are not suffocated." 
" Isn't there a great deal of power going to waste all over the world 
that might be utilized in compressing air, which could be taken in pipes 
to where it could operate machinery ?" Frank asked. 



AN AIR-LOCOMOTIVE. 397 

" Certainly there is," was the reply ; " and the wonder is that so 
little has been done thus far towards saving it. There is power enough 
at Niagara Falls to run all the machinery in America, and there is 
power enough in the tides along the coast, and in the breaking of the 
waves on the beaches of the ocean, to take the place of all the steam- 
engines that were ever constructed. But we are getting away from 
the tunnel under the Saint Gothard mountain. 

"As I was saying, the air -locomotive carried me into the tunnel, 
and very soon I was near the heading. The noise of the drilling- 
machines was deafening, and it was impossible for us to converse. The 
workmen do not attempt to talk, all orders being given by signs, and it 
is only when the operation of the drills stops that talking is possible. 
When the locomotive stopped they gave each of us a lantern, and we 
picked our way over the rough bottom of the tunnel till we reached the 
heading. The noise increased at every step; we were half- drenched 
with water trickling from the ceiling, and in some places it was gushing 
in small streams. Our conductor said that sometimes it burst forth 
with such force as to suspend operations, and once a stream of consider- 
able size rushed in and frightened everybody, so that they ran in a panic 
towards the entrance of the tunnel. 

" They showed me a place where the ^ | ^ 

bottom of the tunnel bulged up, and 
made it necessary to arch it below as 
well as above. Since I was there, they 
came upon a place where the rock was 
soft, and the great weight of the mount- 
ain above caused it to contract beyond 
the power of ordinary brick arching to 
resist. They made an archway of heavy 
plates and blocks of steel, and this was the 
only thing that kept the rock under con- 
trol and preserved the tunnel. 

" It was hot in the tunnel, the ther- 
mometer standing at about 80° Fahren- 
heit, and the exertion of walking made 
me perspire freely. The workmen were longitudinal section of gallery. 
very thinly clad, boots, trousers, and hats 

comprising the garbs of most of them. The workmen were all Italians. 
The Germans and Swiss seemed quite willing to allow the Italians to do 
this underground work, which is neither agreeable nor free from danger. 



398 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



The fact was the Italians would do the work for less money than any- 
other people ; they received from three to six francs a day (60 cents to 
$1.20), and boarded themselves. The average wages were about 80 
cents, and out of this they managed to Mve on about one -half the 
amount they received, and sent the rest to their families in Italy." 

" You haven't told us how 
large the tunnel" is," said Mrs. 
Chapman, who had been listening 
with the same interest as the rest. 
" Excuse me ; I thought I men- 
tioned it. The Saint Gothard Tun- 
nel is the same, or very nearly the 
same, size as the Mont Cenis Tun- 
nel. It is 42 feet wide at the bot- 
tom, and 26 feet at the springing 
of the arch, while the centre of 
the arch is 19 feet from the floor. 
There are two railway tracks, so 
that trains may run in either direc- 
tion at the same time ; and be- 
tween the tracks there is a covered 
way arched with masonry for pur- 
poses of drainage. While they were 
building the tunnel this covered 
way was found very convenient 
for the men employed in its construction when falls of rock had blocked 
up the gallery, as it is large enough for a man to crawl through." 

Mr. Chapman said that the Saint Gothard Tunnel is the longest in the 
world, and will probably hold that rank for some time to come. He had 
heard of a proposal to build a tunnel under the Simplon Pass, and also 
one under Mont Blanc ; but thus far the projects had not taken practi- 
cal shape. In answer to a question by Mrs. Bassett, he said that the 
longest tunnel in America was that beneath the Hoosac Mountain, in 
Massachusetts, four and a half miles from one end to the other. It was 
proposed as early as 1825, but work was not begun upon it until more 
than twenty years later, and the tunnel was not completed until the be- 
ginning of 1875. The first train of cars ran through Hoosac Tunnel on 
April 5th of that year, and regular service began soon after. 

From Fluelen our friends returned to Lucerne by the same boat that 
carried them up the lake. Mrs. Bassett thought she would like to cross 




SCALE OF FEET 



SECTION OF TUNNEL. 



THE SAINT GOTHARD PASS. 



399 




the Saint Gothard 
Pass in the old way, 
but learned that 
since the completion 
of the tunnel there 
was comparatively 
little pleasure travel 
over the mountain. 
The present road over the mountain 
was completed in 1832. Before that 
time it was simply a bridle - path ; 
but it was the most frequented of 
all the passes of the Alps until the 
commencement of the present cen- 
tury, when the construction of roads 
over the Simplon, Spliigen, and San 
Bernardino passes caused it to be 
almost deserted. The completion 

of the road quickly restored its old popularity, which it continued to 
hold until the railway was opened and obtained a monopoly of travel. 

During their return voyage to Lucerne the party discussed plans for 
the continuation of their journey, but without coming to any definite 



JWBSHHS 



@^B§ 



BELLINZONA, ON THE SAINT GOTHARD ROUTE. 



400 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

conclusion. "When they reached the hotel Frank found a telegram from 
Doctor Bronson which enabled them to come to a conclusion very 
speedily. It ran as follows : 

"If not interfering with your plans, meet me at Four Seasons 
Hotel, Munich, next Saturday. Answer at Berlin." 

" That is easy enough," said Frank. " It is now Tuesday, and we 
can go to Munich by leisurely stages." 

" Leisurely enough they may be," replied Fred. " We will go by 
Ulm and Augsburg, I suppose." 

" Better than that, I was about to suggest, is to go by the Arlberg 
Tunnel and Railway to Innsbruck, and thence to Munich. It will take 
us over a short distance that you and I have travelled, but which will 
be new to mamma and Mary. 

" Furthermore," said Frank, turning to Mrs. Bassett, " it will give 
you a chance to imagine you are passing through the Saint Gothard 
Tunnel. The Arlberg Tunnel isn't as long as the Saint Gothard, but it 
is more than six miles from one end of it to the other, and that will 
be quite sufficient for all practical purposes." 

" I didn't know about the Arlberg Tunnel," said Mary, " although I 
was reading about the Tyrol this very morning." 

"Very naturally you didn't know of it, as the book you were reading 
was printed before the railway from Innsbruck to Bregenz (121 miles) 
was completed. The tunnel was begun in June, 1880, and the first train 
went through it on November 13, 1883. The entire line was finished 
and formally inaugurated with great ceremonies by the Emperor of 
Austria, in September of the following year." 

As already stated, a part of the journey from Lucerne to Innsbruck 
was made over the route already visited by Frank and Fred in their 
excursion from the falls of the Rhine, and the rest of it was accom- 
plished as quickly as possible. Mrs. Bassett suggested that a few 
mountains and valleys, more or less, would make no material difference 
in their travels in Switzerland ; and, as already stated, she wished to 
keep something for a subsequent visit. " I'm glad," she added, " that 
we are to visit the Tyrol. Please tell me what is the difference or the 
resemblance between the Tyrol and Switzerland ?" 

" The scenery of the Tyrol is essentially Swiss in character," said 
Frank, " as it is traversed by the chains of the Alps, so that it is a very 
mountainous region. Geographically it is a province of Austria, and is 
bounded on the north by Bavaria, east by Salzburg and Carinthia, south 
by Italy, and west by Switzerland. About one-third of its surface is 



TYROL AND THE TYROLESE. 



401 



covered by rocks, glaciers, or perpetual snows, as many of the mount- 
ains rise above the snow-line of the Alps ; another third is covered with 
forests, and the remaining third consists of pastures and farming lands." 
" Do the people resemble the Swiss V 

" They are much like the Swiss," was the reply, " though there are 
certain points of difference, which may be attributed to political causes 
more than to anything else. They are an industrious race, finely formed 
and robust, fond of the mountains and their mountain homes, and de- 
voted to their native land. They have a great many national songs, 
which they preserve with the utmost care, and they are as pious as they 
are patriotic. Two -thirds of the 900,000 inhabitants are of German 
descent and one -third Italian. All are devout Roman Catholics, with 
but comparatively few exceptions. 

" The Ehine is the boundary be- 
tween Switzerland and the Tyrol, 
and when we pass that river we 
shall be out of the republic and in 
the monarchy of Austria-Hungary ; 
but to Innsbruck and beyond it the 
scenery will be almost identical 
with that in which we have passed 
the greater part of our time since 
our arrival at Geneva." 

The Chapman family concluded 
to remain a short time longer in 
Switzerland. No definite arrange- 
ments were made for a future 
meeting, but it was agreed that 
the two parties would be informed 
of each other's movements, and 
quite likely they would come to- 
gether again at no distant date. 

When our friends passed Lan- 
deck, and were still some forty 
and odd miles from Innsbruck, 
they found themselves in the val- 
ley of the impetuous river Inn. 
On each side of the valley the 
mountains rose abruptly, sometimes 
in comparatively gentle slopes ; oc- 

26 




TYROLESE PEASANT GIRL. 



402 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

casionally the valley opened to considerable widths, and again there 
seemed to be hardly room enough for river and railway without inter- 
fering with one another. The railway, as the latest comer, treated the 
river with great respect, and occasionally retired into a tunnel or crossed 
from one bank to the other, rather than interfere with the course of the 
stream. Perhaps this policy was dictated by fear of what the river 
might do in retaliation rather than out of pure politeness. 

The Inn rises in Switzerland at an elevation of nearly 7000 feet, so 
that it has abundant space for its descent. Through the mountains and 
as far as Innsbruck it is a swift stream, with many falls and rapids. 
Navigation begins at Innsbruck and is continued to Passau, where the 
river joins the Danube, of which it is one of the principal tributaries. 

" Isn't the Engadine valley on the Inn ?" Mary asked, as she looked 
from the window of the car at the swift-flowing stream. 

" Yes," replied Frank; "it extends nearly sixty miles along the river, 
and is rarely more than a mile in width. The Upper Engadine is at an 
elevation of nearly 6000 feet, and is much visited in summer by inva- 
lids. There are frosts in all the months of the year, and in the winter 
the thermometer drops to 30° below zero." 

" That is where the inhabitants describe their climate as ' nine 
months winter and three months cold,' is it not V queried Fred. 

" Yes," was the reply ; " and they do not exaggerate very much when 
they say it. In some places the valley is so narrow that the sun reaches 
the bottom for only a few hours each day in summer, and hardly at all 
in winter. One American visitor declares that when he was there the 
sun never got into the valley until the forenoon of next day. 

" The climate is so dry," continued Frank, " that meat will be per- 
fectly preserved from October to May when hung in the open air, and 
there is a wonderful purity in the atmosphere. People who have been 
there say they have never seen so blue a sky elsewhere, and the atmos- 
phere is so clear that objects can be seen to a remarkable distance. 
The pasturage in the valley is very rich, and there is considerable gar- 
dening in the lower part of the valley, but very little in the upper." 

There was further conversation concerning the river on whose banks 
they were travelling, but it was brought to an end by the arrival of the 
train at the station of Innsbruck. 

" What is the meaning of Innsbruck ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. " It has 
something to do with the Inn, but I don't know what." 

" Brack means bridge," replied Frank, " and it is probable that the 
city grew from a village at a bridge over the river many centuries ago. 



INNSBRUCK AND ITS NAME. 



403 







A VALLEY IN THE TYROL. 



The Komans called it (Enipontum, which means 'Inn bridge.' The 
place received the privileges of a town in the thirteenth century, and 
for a long time it has had not one but several bridges across the river 
that gives it the last half of its name." 



404 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



INNSBRUCK AND ITS SITUATION. — THE MOUNTAINS AND THE VALLEY OF THE 
INN.— GOLDENES DACHL.— COUNT FREDERICK OF TYROL ; HIS EMPTY POCKETS.— 
MAXIMILIAN I., AND THE REMARKABLE MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY— BRONZE. 
STATUES.— A SCRAP OF HISTORY.— ANDREAS HOFER, AND WHAT HE DID.— TYR- 
OLESE PATRIOTS.— FERDINAND II.— THE CASTLE OF AMRAS.— TYROLESE PAINT- 
INGS. — DEFREGGER AND HIS WORK. — WRESTLING AND FINGER-HACKING.— 
NATIVE COSTUMES.— BRIDE FROM THE GRODNER THAL.— GRODNER THAL AND 
ITS INDUSTRIES. — DIFFICULTIES OF FARMING. — WOOD-CARVING. — ZITHER- 
PLAYING.— THE BRENNER PASS AND RAILWAY. 

INNSBRUCK is delightfully situated," wrote Mary in her journal,, 
"and I'm ever so glad we came here. The Inn isn't a large 

stream, but it is a pretty one, and ev- 
ery time we have crossed a bridge on 
foot I have lingered a few moments 
to look at the flowing water. Fred 
said that my fondness for the river 
made him think of some lines from 
Shenstone, and he repeated them on 
the spot : 

" 'Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round, 
Where'er his stages may have been, 
Must sigh to think he still has found 
The warmest welcome at an inn.' 

" ' If you think this Inn would 
give you a warm welcome,' said I, 
'just jump in and try it. The river 
comes down from the glaciers of 
Switzerland and the Tyrol, and it is. 
anything but warm.' 

" Fred said he was satisfied to stay 
out of the river and content himself 
with looking at the water as it swept 
along beneath the bridges. The rest 




GOLDENES DACHL. 



THE VALLEY OF THE INN. 



405 




MARIA THERESA STRASSE, INNSBRUCK. 

of us agreed with him ; and as for the inn of the tavern sort, we found 
the one where we were lodged entirely satisfactory. 

" The valley of the river is quite broad here, but not broad enough 
to make the city appear to stand in a plain. All around are the mount- 
ains, some of them streaked with snow, and all presenting ravines and 
ridges that tempt the hardy climber, but cause the ordinary traveller to 
hesitate a great deal before he undertakes to mount them. A guide 
offered his services for excursions among the mountains ; we declined 
them at once, but this did not deter him from naming a bewildering 
number of peaks, which he pointed out as he called them off. You will 
know they are hard to climb when I name a few of them — Seegruben- 
spitzen, Rumerjoch, Hafelekar, and Waldrasterspitze. They are enough 
to terrify anybody but a member of the Alpine Club of at least five 
years' standing, or a mountaineer from Colorado. 

" The city, you see from this, stands in a mountain basin, but the 
basin is so broad that the inhabitants are not cramped for want of space. 
It's a very pretty situation, and I think one might stay here for weeks in 
perfect content. They tell us that there are a great many delightful 
walks and drives in the neighborhood, and as for excursions among the 
mountains, one could devote months to them, and even then there would 
be some places unvisited. 



406 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Of course our first inquiry was for the sights of the place — I mean 
the regular sights that every traveller ought to include, unless he is too 
decrepit to be able to move about. They are not numerous, and, alto- 
gether, they are quite good. 

" The first thing to which our attention was called is the Goldenes 
Dachl. It is an odd sort of thing, in the shape of a roof of gilded cop- 
per surmounting a gilded balcony. Originally it formed the front of a 
palace belonging to Count Frederick of Tyrol — and thereby hangs a 
tale of long gone centuries : 

" Count Frederick spent his money very freely, and borrowed a 
great deal which he did not repay. In consequence of his easy financial 
habits he obtained the nickname of ' Empty Pockets,' and the indica- 
tions are that he was not pleased with it. To show that the nickname 
was a calumny he built this balcony at an expense of $70,000, which 
was a great deal of money for those days. I asked where he obtained 
the money to build it with, but no one could tell. Frank suggested that 
he probably paid nothing to his workmen, and obtained the materials 
on credit. The gilding must certainly be heavy, as the roof and balcony 
were erected in 1425, and restored by the Emperor Maximilian in 1500. 

" The Emperor Maximilian was not the unfortunate brother of the 
Emperor of Austria, who went to Mexico during our Civil War and set 
up an empire there, but the first of that name who ruled over Germany. 
He was born in 1459, so that he has been dead a long time. That he 
was well connected is shown by the circumstance that he married Mary 
of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, for his first wife, and Bianca, 
daughter of the Duke of Milan, for his second. He had a goodly num- 
ber of wars on his hands at one time and another ; but while he was a 
man of military ambitions he was also a patron of art and literature, 
and was the author of several works in prose and poetry. Frank says 
the Emperor had no difficulty in finding a publisher, even if his poetry 
was not of the best class, just for the reason that he was an emperor. 

" I have said this much about Maximilian I. because we went from 
the Goldenes Dachl to the Hqfkirche, or church, where there is a 
monument to his memory, and it is one of the most remarkable mon- 
uments we have anywhere seen. It stands right in the middle of the 
church, and not in a chapel at one side, as is almost universally the case 
with monuments in other churches. The church was built by order of 
the great Max, and was completed about 1553 ; he ordered the mon- 
ument at the same time as the church, and gave directions about its 
construction, and these directions show that he was a man of origi- 



A REMARKABLE MONUMENT. 



407 



nality. When we entered the church we all paused as we caught sight 
of the monument, and it is certainly well calculated to startle the stran- 
ger who does not know the sight that is ready to break upon him. 

" Maximilian is represented in bronze, kneeling on a large sarcoph- 
agus, and the figure is more than life-size. Around him are twenty-eight 
figures, also in bronze, and of heroic size ; they are represented as mourn- 
ers and torch-bearers, and are certainly an illustrious group. The family 
and immediate relatives of the Emperor are there, and in addition to 
them are Clovis, King of France ; Philip I. of Spain ; Emperor Eudolph 
of Hapsburg ; King Arthur of England ; Theocloric, King of the Ostro- 
goths ; Charles the Bold ; Ferdinand of Aragon ; Godefroi de Bouillon ; 
and Emperor Albert II. Some of the figures are admirable and some 
poorly executed. One of the best of the figures is King Arthur of Eng- 
land, and I liked it so much that I bought several photographs of it 
to send to friends at home. 

" But the artistic work does not 
end with the bronze statues by any 
means. The sides and ends of the 
sarcophagus are covered with pan- 
els of marble. There are twenty-four 
of these panels, and they represent as 
many scenes in the life of the Em- 
peror Maximilian. They begin with 
his marriage with Mary of Burgun- 
dy, in 1447, and end with the defence 
of Yerona in 1516. That his life was 
in a time of war is shown by the bat- 
tle-pieces, which are the leading feat- 
ures of this collection of panels. Most 
of them are the work of Alexander 
Colin, of Malines, and they are pro- 
nounced by art critics the best of 
their kind. Many of the heads are 
portraits, and in all the pictures it is 
easy to recognize the features of Max- 
imilian. Frank called our attention 
to the skill of the artist in represent- 
ing the Emperor at different periods 
of life. Thirty-eight years intervened 
between his marriage and the defence 




KING ARTHUR. 



408 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

of Yerona, and the portrait of the hero of the work appears to have 
' aged ' accordingly, year by year. 

" We see that the great Max was human, because none of the panels 
represent any of the battles in which he was defeated. As he planned 
the monument, it is to be supposed that he made up the list of the events 
that he wished to have represented and omitted the rest. 

" Frank suggested that it was probably owing to the example set by 
the Emperor Maximilian that the Germans have no representation of the 
battle of Jena among their national collection of war paintings, any more 
than the French have of the battle of Waterloo. And he wonders if there 
is any national gallery in England containing a picture of the surrender 
of Cornwallis at Yorktown or of Burgoyne at Saratoga. But we are 
wandering away from the Tyrol and its chief city. 

"Bear in mind I have called this a monument and not a tomb. That 
is because the bones of the Emperor are not in the marble sarcophagus, 
as we supposed when we first saw it, but at Neustadt, thirty miles from 
Yienna, where he was born. This monument was ordered ten years 
before his death, Avhich occurred in 1519, but it was not completed until 
1583, and some say the completion was several years later than that 
date. However much Maximilian may be forgotten or quite unknown 
anywhere else, he is a very vivid personality to the people of Innsbruok. 
An attempt to remove the monument would be likely to rouse an insur- 
rection, and, at all events, would cause great discontent. 

" There are other monuments in the church. There is one to the 
memory of Archduke Frederick II., and at the entrance of the left aisle 
is the monument or tomb of Andreas Hofer. Perhaps you don't know 
who he was, and what made him famous. 

" He was a Tyrolese patriot of the end of the last century and the 
beginning of the present one. In early life he was a horse and wine 
dealer, and kept a small tavern in his native place. In 1796 he organized 
a corps of Tyrolese riflemen, and fought against the French on the shore 
of Lake Garda, on the southern boundaries of the Tyrol. From that 
time down to his death in 1810 he fought against French, Bavarians, 
or any other enemies of his country, but without the satisfaction of 
ultimate victory. After his defeat in 1809 he disbanded his followers, 
and retired alone to the mountains. The French found him, and took 
him prisoner to Mantua, where he was shot by order of Napoleon I. 

" The story is that the judges at Hofer's trial were opposed to his 
execution, but their decision was overruled by Napoleon, who thought 
it best to make an end of such a determined patriot. Thirteen years 



A TYROLESE PATRIOT. 



409 



later the people of 
Innsbruck caused 
his remains to be 
brought there and 
buried with a great 
deal of ceremon} 1 -, 
and they after- 
wards erected this 
handsome monu- 
ment to his mem- 
ory. Hofer is to 
the Tyrolese what 
Garibaldi has been 
to the Italians, and 
there is no patri- 
otic name which 
they hold in great- 
er reverence than 
his. All through 
the country the 
houses in which he 
slept during his 
campaigns are held 
in the same respect 
as those in which 
Washington spent 
the nights during 
the time of the 

Revolution. The house where he lived is a sort of pilgrimage place 
for the Tyrolese, very much as the birthplace of Shakespeare has long 
been for the English, or that of Burns for the Scotch. 

" In the museum we saw the portrait of Hofer, which gave us a 
better idea of his features than did the marble relief on his tomb, though 
the latter is certainly very good. The face is an honest one, though 
somewhat heavy. As you walk through Innsbruck you will see many 
faces which are enough like his to show that it was the true type of 
the Tyrolese. The portrait shows him in the costume of his country. 
I bought a photograph of it, but unfortunately the photograph does 
not show the rich embroidery nor the variety of colors in the dress. 

"Near Hofer' s tomb are the tombs of his faithful companions, 




ANDREAS HOFER. 



410 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Speckbacher and Haspinger. The former was a chamois - hunter and 
farmer, and the latter a Capuchin monk. Opposite their tombs is a 
monument to all the Tyrolese who fell fighting for their country in the 
stormy period in which Hofer lived. Candor compels me to say that 
we did not spend as much time over these monuments and tombs as we 
did over the monument to Maximilian, not that we were any the less 
respectful to the memory of the patriots, but because of the unique 
character of that array of bronze figures surrounding another bronze 
figure in the centre of the marble structure. 

" The guide called our attention to the tomb of Ferdinand II., Count 
of Tyrol, and that of his wife, but we did not stay to see them. After- 
wards we wished we had given them at least a glance. It was when 
we visited the Castle of Amras, which stands on a hill about an hour's 
drive out of Innsbruck — a castle which was once the property of the 
count, and belongs now to the Emperor of Austria. It contains a great 
many relics of the count and his beautiful wife, who was Philippine 
Weiser, the daughter of a rich merchant of Augsburg. She is re- 
nowned for her charity and gentleness no less than for her beauty, 

which must have been unusual if 
her portrait is not guilty of flat- 
tery. The people talk about her as 
though she died but yesterday in- 
stead of three centuries ago, and 
they evidently hold her memory in 
great esteem. I was fascinated by 
the picture, and stood for some time 
in front of it, until Frank called me 
away to see something else. 

" Schloss Amras, as they call the 
castle, has a fine collection of weap- 
ons from the fifteenth century down 
to the present day. They interest- 
ed Frank and Fred more than mam- 
ma or myself ; out of respect to us 
they did not remain long among 
the implements of warfare, but went 
to the picture-gallery, where we 
enjoyed the paintings very much. 
Some of them are by native artists, and are excellent ; or, rather, I 
should say there is a varying degree of excellence in the pictures that 




FRAXZ DEFREGGER. 



SPORTS OF THE TYROL, 



411 



we saw. Several 
paintings by De- 
fregger attracted 
our attention, not 
only because of the 
celebrity of the 
painter, but from 
the circumstance 
that they repre- 
sented the people 
of the country and 
their sports. 

"We are told 
that the Tyrolese 
are fond of athletic 
sports, and this is 
to be expected in 
a country where 
so much depends 
upon physical en- 
durance. They 
have their athletic 
societies, in which 
they perform in a 
way which is rare- 
ly seen in America 
outside of the cir- 
cus, unless it be among the Germans in our large cities. They are fond 
of wrestling, and whenever a group of young men is gathered in any of 
the villages there is a reasonable certainty of a wrestling-match between 
two local champions, and perhaps several matches. 

" One of Defregger's pictures represents a wrestling-match such as 
I have mentioned. The champions are standing ready to close, and 
each is dodging to secure the best advantage in the 'clinch.' Their po- 
sitions reminded me of two barn-yard fowls in a combat, and I said so 
to Frank. He told me I might have my own opinion, but must not 
speak too loud for fear some of the residents might overhear me ; they 
might not be pleased to hear themselves likened to chickens, and cer- 
tainly there is nothing 'chicken-hearted' in their composition. I again 
declared that it was the positions only to which I referred, and then he 




PHILIPPINE "WEISER, COUNTESS OF TYROL. 



412 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

called my attention to another picture which represented a 'finger- 
hacking ' match. I asked him what ' finger-hacking ' was. 

" ' It is a trial of strength,' said Frank, ' in which many a middle 
finger has been put out of joint. Two men hook together the middle 
fingers of their right hands across the table, and then begin a struggle, 
which ends with the surrender of one and the consequent triumph of 
the other. Arms are twisted, and you can easily see that there is a 
great deal of pain to both parties in the performance. The victor is al- 
ways applauded, and sometimes the vanquished man loses his temper 
and is ready for a fight. Down to not very long ago most of the men 
carried knives, and not infrequently a wrestling-match or finger-hack- 
ing (should it not be finger - hooking ?) terminated in bloodshed. At 
present the law forbids the carrying of weapons of any kind, but doubt- 
less a goodly number are worn in concealment.' 

"You may naturally ask to know more about Franz Defregger. 
Well, the artist was born at Stronach in the Tyrol some time in the 




" wrestling." — [From a palming by Defregger.] 



year 1839. He was a pupil of Piloty, and has a high rank as a painter, 
especially of the peasant life of his native land. All of his pictures that 
we have seen are of this sort, and they have instructed us very much at 
the same time that they interested us as works of art." 



COSTUMES OF THE COUNTRY. 



413 



This concluded Mary's record of the visit to Innsbruck. We will 
now listen to Fred, who has something to say on the subject. 

" A stroll on the Maria Theresa Strasse," said Fred, "was very much 
like a stroll on the principal street of Berne or Geneva. The costumes 




"finger-hacking." — [From a paiuting by Defregger.] 



of most of the people that we saw were not by any means distinct- 
ive of their nationality, as they wore the garments that were bought 
in the clothing-stores, and quite possibly were fashioned in London or 
Paris. But when we encountered peasants from the surrounding coun- 
try the case was different, as the most of them wore something that 
showed them to be natives of the Tyrol and nothing else. There 
are local differences all through the country. The dress of one thai, or 
valley, differs somewhat from that of its neighbor, but these differences 
are not readily distinguished by the visitor. In order that we might 
become better acquainted with some of them, we visited a book-store, 
where there was a large stock of photographs, showing the costumes of 
the various valleys. We bought many of these sample photographs, 
and since buying them have had a great deal of amusement in studying 
the peculiarities of the Tyrolese dress. 



414 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Just look over some of these photographs with us. 
" Here is the costume of a bride from the Grodner Thai. You ob- 
serve, to begin with, that the bride is not the slender maiden we are ac- 
customed to associate with weddings in general, but a woman of solid 
figure, with a tendency to stoutness. She carries her prayer-book and 
rosary, for she is a good Catholic. There is no train to her dress, nor 
does she wear the bridal veil, which is the accompaniment of a wedding 
in a higher state of civilization. Her collar is of spotless white, and 
possibly embroidered by herself, and her head is shaded by a hat of 
ample proportions. Altogether the dress is by no means unattractive. 
But what would Boston or New York say if a fashionable bride should 
appear at church to be married in this costume ? 

" I must tell you something about the Grodner Thai, and my au- 
thority is Col. George 
E. "Waring and his Tyr- 
ol and the Skirt of the 
Alps, as we have not 
had the opportunity to 
visit the place for our- 
selves. 

"Colonel Waring 
says it is a deep score 
in the steep side of the 
mountain 18 miles long, 
and 3600 feet higher at 
its upper than at its 
lower end. It has a 
population of about 
3500, and this figure has 
varied but little for cen- 
turies. Before 1856 all 
the communication with 
the rest of the world 
was by a bridle and 
foot path, but since that 
year it has been possible 
to go into the valley by 
a good carriage-road, 
which has greatly in- 
creased travel in that 




A GRODNER THAL BRIDE. 



TYROLESE WOOD-CARVINGS. 



415 



direction. And how do 
you suppose the people 
manage to live? Re- 
member they are in a 
narrow valley, where 
there is only a limited 
amount of agriculture. 

" The next time you 
are in a toy-shop look 
around for wood - carv- 
ings from the Tyrol — 
horses, dogs, cats, houses, 
anything and every- 
thing that comes from 
the hands of the work- 
er in wood. Well, the 
chances are that these 
things came from the 
Grodner Thai. Wood- 
carving is the industry 
of the people of both 
sexes and all ages, and 
it is this industry which 
supports them more than 
anything else. 

" Though the valley has been inhabited for twenty centuries and 
more, it was only' within the last hundred and fifty }^ears that the in- 
dustry was introduced. Their wood -carvings are sent to all parts of 
the civilized world — to England, France, Austria, Russia, Australia, and 
North and South America, and to countries and regions I have not 
named. Colonel Waring says that when the children come home from 
school each of them sits down to perform his or her share of the work 
of the family. As for the elders of the household, they are busy through 
all the working-hours of the day, and each of them does but a single 
piece of carving. One carves cats, another dogs, another horses, an- 
other makes wooden soldiers, or turtles, or simple statuettes, and an- 
other makes houses of a given pattern. If you ask a dog -carver to 
make you a toy horse he would look at you with astonishment. When 
his speech returned he would refer you to Hans or Fritz, whose special 
work is the making of horses. 




A WOOD-CARVER. 



416 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" The wood-carving of the Grodner Thai is not confined to toys. A 
great many of the workers are emplo} r ed upon saints and Madonnas, 
which are sold in Catholic countries and are always in demand. The 
saintly images and groups are carved without models, and some of 
them show a great deal of artistic merit. They take a piece of wood 
of the proper size and shape, and the dexterity and rapidity with which 
they hew it away and bring out the desired form are really astonishing. 

" If you ask one of the carvers why he does not make something 
else than the horse, dog, or other production that is his special line of 
work, he will answer that his father and grandfather made them. He 
does not explain that he can do nothing else because he is following 
their example. He states the fact, and you are left to draw your own 
conclusions in any way you like. 

" They have some agriculture in the Grodner Thai — in fact, they 
have all that the valley is capable of ; but it is not enough for the occu- 
pation of everybody. All through the Tyrol every foot of land that 
can be made to produce anything is utilized, and an American farmer 
would consider his time wasted if he should do many things which are 
taken by the Tyrolese as a matter of course. A patch of grass not 
more than a yard square is carefully cut, and the proceeds turned into 
hay. This hay must be carried on the back of man or woman to where 
it can be loaded on a wagon, or on the back of donkey or horse for trans- 
portation to the barn, and thousands of tons of hay are gathered every 
year in the Tyrol in just this way. 

"As an illustration of what I am saying, let me quote from Mr. 
Grohman's book, Tyrol and the Tyrolese. The author has spent a 
great deal of time in the Tyrol, and knows the country and people thor- 
oughly. Here are a few extracts from his work : 

" ' In the "Wild-Schonau, North Tyrol, not a few of the houses are 
built on such steep slopes that a heavy chain has to be laid around the 
houses and fastened to some firm object — a large tree or bowlder of 
rock higher up. ... In one village off the Puster Thai, and in two 
others off the Oberinn Thai, many of the villagers come to church with 
crampons on their feet, the terrible steep slopes on which their huts are 
built, somewhat like a swallow's nest on a wall, requiring this precau- 
tionary measure. ... In Moos, a village not very far from the Brenner, 
having a population of eight hundred inhabitants, more than three hun- 
dred men and women have been killed since 1758 by falls from the in- 
credibly steep slopes upon which the pasturage of this village is sit- 
uated. So steep are they, in fact, that only goats, and even they not 



HAYMAKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



417 



everywhere, can be trusted to graze on them, and the hay for the larger 
cattle has to be cut and gathered by the hand of man.' 

" Another writer, Colonel Waring, confirms fully the statement of 
Mr. Grohman, and describes the little stores of grass that he has seen 
piled against the upper side of protecting trees or rocks, where it had 
been brought by the 
armful when gathered 
by the spike-shod mow- 
ers. The haymakers 
gather the hay in places 
that would be inacces- 
sible to the stranger, 
and every visitor won- 
ders how enough of it 
can be secured to keep 
the hay-eating animals 
through the winter. 
That they do secure it 
and take good care of 
their cattle is an indi- 
cation of their industry 
and perseverance. 

"Mary remarked 
that she did not think 
an agent for a mow- 
ing-machine would find 
a profitable business in 
the Tyrol. The rest of 
us agreed with her, and 
with good reason, as 
there is not one farm 
in fifty in all the coun- 
try where a mowing- 
machine could be used to any advantage, if indeed it could be used 
at all. A very large number of farms and a great many villages can 
only be reached by foot-paths, as wagon- roads have not been made, 
and could only be constructed at great cost. 

"We wanted to hear some Tyrolese music, and arranged through 
our guide to have some performances on the zither by one who was 
said to be an accomplished player. Do you know what the zither is ? 

11 




A MOUNTAIN PORTER. 



418 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" It is an instrument which may be called a combination of the harp 
and guitar, as it has the peculiarities of both. It is placed flat upon a 
table, which thus serves as a sounding-board, and the strings are touched 
by the fingers of the performer very much as are those of the instru- 




TTROLESE ZITHKR-PLAYERS. 



THE BRENNER RAILWAY. 419 

ments I have mentioned. The zither was not new to us, as we had 
heard it several times, but never before did we realize of how much it is 
capable. While the zither-player was resting — or, as Mary expressed it, 
' between the acts' — we listened to some performances on the guitar, and 
also to a few of the Tyrolese songs. They were very sweet and melo- 
dious, and we do not wonder at the fondness of the people of this re- 
mote region for the music of their native land." 

When our friends had finished with the sights of Innsbruck and its 
vicinity, and were ready to proceed to Munich, where they were to meet 
Doctor Bronson, as already stated, Frank made a proposition to his 
mother and sister for a little excursion, as follows : 

" Fred and I would like to see the Brenner Railway, which crosses 
the Alps by the Brenner Pass. We can leave here by the train at 1.40 
this afternoon, and reach Botzen at 6.51. There we can spend the night, 
leave Botzen at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, and be due in Inns- 
bruck at 2.35 in the afternoon. The same train, or the one which con- 
nects with it, will be due in Munich at 6.20 in the evening. 

" ISTow, if you care to make the journey, I think you will find it in- 
teresting. If you do not care to go you can remain here, and meet us 
at the station when the train arrives from Botzen to-morrow and 
takes us to Munich. What do you say ?" 

" What is there to see on the Brenner Railway, and does it go 
through the Alps like the Saint Gothard route, or over them?" Mrs. 
Bassett asked, after Frank concluded. 

"It goes over the mountains and not through them, except in a good- 
ly number of places, where there are short tunnels. The highest part 
of the road is in the open air, and the tunnels are where it was cheaper 
to make them than to build high embankments or cut deep trenches." 

" I read about the railway," said Mary, turning to her mother, " and 
can tell you something concerning it." 

Mrs. Bassett assumed a listening attitude, and Mary proceeded. 

" The Brenner Pass is the lowest of the passes of the main chain of 
the Alps," said the girl, " and, according to what I read of it, is only 
4470 feet high. It was used by the Romans, both for commerce and 
for the movements of their armies, and has been in use constantly since 
their time. About a hundred years ago a carriage-road was made over 
it. After it was finished there was a great deal of travel on this road all 
the time until the completion of the railway in 1867. I have forgotten 
the number of tunnels and bridges, and also the steepness of the grade. 
Perhaps Frank or Fred can help me out." 



420 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




WSBSSm 



do. 



"With pleas- 
ure," exclaimed 
Fred. "There 
are thirty tunnels 
and sixty large 
bridges, with a great number of 
small ones. The steepest grade 
is one foot in forty, and is on the 
northern side of the pass. On 
the southern side the steepest 
grade is one foot in forty-four." 

"Thank you," said Mary, as 
Fred paused. " I wonder if I will 
ever be able to comprehend these 
engineering terms as well as you 
Perhaps I sha'n't, but nevertheless I'm going to try." 
That's right," responded her mother. " Girls are not expected to 




SAINT ULRICH, GRODNER THAL. 



A LITTLE EXCURSION. 



421 



be surveyors and railway -builders; but there's no reason why they 
shouldn't understand engineering terms, and be able to talk intelligently 
about them when the occasion requires. In my school -days all this 
knowledge was practically unknown, except to those Avho were espe- 
cially studying it; and I don't remember that I ever had a book on sur- 
veying or engineering in my hands until I had left the school far be- 
hind me, and then only by accident." 

Then there was a brief pause, which was broken by Mrs. Bassett, 
who said that she and Mary would accompany the youths in their jour- 
ne}' to Botzen and back, and would be ready at once. 

Immediately the party broke up, as there was no time to lose. The 
bill at the hotel was settled, a carriage was ordered, and our friends 
were at the station as promptly as was their custom. The trunks were 
left in charge of the baggage department of the railway, to be called 
for on their return. Frank intimated to the sub-chief of the station 
that he would not be forgotten financially if the baggage was all ready 
on the following afternoon to be placed on the train at its arrival, and 
it is proper to add that there was not the least hitch in the arrange- 
ments. Money is appreciated in the Tyrol. 

To Botzen and back it was a journey in "light marching order," 
only the hand -satchels of the travellers, together with their umbrellas 
and wraps, being taken along. Frank said the overcoats and cloaks 
were necessary, as it might be cold in the neighborhood of the summit 
of the pass. Even had it been otherwise, the wraps would have been 
taken, as it is a rule of prudent travellers always to have an extra gar- 
ment at hand on railway or other journey of several hours. 









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27- 



PROFILE OF THE BRENNER RAILWAY. 



422 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



The Brenner Railway is about eighty miles in length, and was built 
in little more than four years. Twenty miles of railway in a year may 
seem slow work to those who have read about the building of railways 
in America at the rate of two or three miles a day; but an engineer who 
inspects this route will quite likely wonder how the work was accom- 
plished in so short a period rather than why it took so long. The line 
is a triumph of railway-building, and reflects great credit upon the men 
who constructed it. 




THE LANG KOFEL, TYROLEAN ALPS. 



OVER THE BRENNER PASS. 



423 



CHAPTEE XXIY. 



FROM INNSBRUCK TO BOTZEN.— THE INN AND THE SILL.— THE VALLEY THAT LEADS 
TO THE SUMMIT.—" THE TWO STREAMS."— ALPINE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.— 
TUNNELS ALONG THE ROUTE.— NOVEL SUGGESTION FOR UTILIZING TUNNELS.— 
FRANK'S LITTLE STORY.— MRS. BASSETT'S DOUBTS.— BOTZEN AND ITS PECULI- 
ARITIES.— A REGION OF CASTLES.— SCHLOSS TYROL.— MERAN.— FROM BOTZEN 
TO MUNICH.— A CHAT ABOUT AUSTRIA.— THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE.— 
COMPOSITION OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY.— EMPEROR AND KING. 
—HOW THE UNION WAS BROUGHT ABOUT.— PARLIAMENTS, ARMY AND NAVY, 
AND OTHER MATTERS.— A LITTLE WAR OF WORDS. 

" YX7E had a delightful jour- 

» » ney," said Mary, in her 
description of the ride to Botzen, 
"and I'm very glad mamma de- 
cided to go, instead of staying in 
Innsbruck for another day." 

That Mrs. Bassett enjoyed the 
journey to Botzen very much may 
be inferred from the following ex- 
tract from her next letter to 
friends at home : 

" When we started we were on 
the banks of the Inn, which is a 
good - sized river. The Sill joins 
the Inn at Innsbruck, and the rail- 
way follows up the valley of the 
Sill, which is by no means a small 
stream, though not as large as the 
Inn at the junction. 

"Well, we went up and up 
along the valley, and every mile 
or so there was a stream coming 

in on one side or the other, a trib- """ ^ 

utary of the Sill. Of course the vineyard watch, south tyrol. 




424 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

river grew smaller as we ascended and passed the mouths of its tribu- 
taries. It was a river when we started along its banks, but after a 
while it could not be called a river in the sense in which we use it, 
but only a creek, or branch, or large brook. From a large brook it be- 
came a small one, and from a small brook it became a rivulet ; and by- 
and-by its proportions were tiny in the extreme. As we neared the sum- 
mit it diminished to a thread of water, which trickled over the rock 
at one side of the railway track. Then for a hundred yards or more 
there was no stream whatever till we saw on the other side of the track 
a similar flow of water over another rock. 

" Now this water fell into a channel close by the track, and ran along 
in the direction we were going. Yery soon another rivulet joined it, 
then another, another, and another ; and by-and-by it was a noisy brook, 
whose course we followed as we descended the slope of the mountain. 
The brook grew to a river, and by the time we reached Botzen it was a 
good-sized river, like the Sill at Innsbruck. 

" The way the river diminished as we ascended the slope and grew 
as we descended on the other side was very impressive. Of course I 
have seen the same thing before, but never where the head springs were 
so near together. At the summit of the pass, so they told us, is a house 
that stands exactly on the water-shed. The rain that falls on the north- 
ern half of the roof flows into the Black Sea by way of the Sill, the 
Inn, and the Danube, while that on the southern half of the roof reaches 
the Mediterranean, or, rather, the Adriatic, through the Eisak and 
the Adige. I mentioned this to Mary, and she repeated Dr. Holmes's 
poem, entitled ' The Two Streams,' which she said she was reminded of. 
I can't repeat the whole poem, but remember the second and third 
verses of it : 

"'Yon stream whose sources run, 
Turned by the pebble's edge, 
Is Athabasca, rolling towards the sun, 
Through the cleft mountain ledge. 

"'The slender rill had strayed, 
But for the slanting stone, 
To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid 
Of foam-flecked Oregon.' " 

" But you must not suppose we had an uninterrupted view of rivers 
and mountains during our journey. It was often very annoying, as we 
were getting interested in the scenery, looking at a mountain, a glacier, 
or a lake, or watching the windings of a river, to dart into a tunnel, and 



A SUGGESTION FOR TUNNEL MAKERS. 



425 




A GLACIER IN THE TVROL. 



have our view completely cut off by a blank wall of rock. It was as 
though a shingle were suddenly held before your eyes as you are look- 
ing at a beautiful picture, and held by some one you cannot influence to 
remove it, or allow you to change your position." 

When Mrs. Bassett mentioned the interruptions to the view by the 
tunnels and deep cuttings that occur along the railway, Frank suggested 
that it would be a great improvement if the company would paint a 
panorama on the walls of the tunnels, so that the scenes might be con- 
tinued straight along. Then they should light the tunnels with gas or 
electricity, and if the work was properly done travellers would never 
know there were any tunnels at all on the Brenner route. 

" That's a grand idea," said Fred. " Suppose you present it to the 
Central Pacific Railway for their snow-sheds and galleries, which are 
miles and miles in extent ; in fact, all the American transcontinental 
railways might adopt it to advantage." 

Frank said he would think about it, but exactly what he thought he 
has not yet told us. But he told a very good story which the incident 
reminded him of. and this is the substance of it : 



426 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" There was once a man, I think it was in England, who had a house 
with a fine view from the parlor windows. He took great delight in 
calling the attention of visitors to this view, and it became famous 
among all who knew him. But it happened that a man with whom he 
had quarrelled bought a plot of land and built a house right in the mid- 
dle of the view; and whenever a stranger was looking from the parlor 
windows he was pretty certain to ask, ' Whose is that fine house there V 
Of course it annoyed him greatly to have to speak of the man he de- 
tested so much, and he did a great deal of thinking on the subject. 

"And this was the result of his thinking : he built, near the edge of 
his own grounds, a brick wall which was high enough and long enough 
to hide the obnoxious house, and he laughed to think how he had blot- 
ted out his neighbor. But he found he had made matters worse than 
better, for now ever}?" visitor was sure to ask, ' What is there behind 
that wall V or, ' What is that wall for?' and, after learning the situation, 
the stranger's curiosity was roused, and he would take a Avalk through 
the grounds to a point where he could see the house that had caused 
so much envy on the part of his host. 

"Then the owner went to thinking again, and this time he succeeded. 
He engaged a landscape-painter to paint a landscape on the wall — the 
exact landscape that was behind the wall with the house left out. The 
edges and top of the picture were made to match the real landscape, and 
the whole work was so well done that nobody ever discovered there was 
a wall there or asked any questions. 

" And that wasn't all," continued Frank. " One day while a visitor 
was taking in the view he remarked that Mr. Blank (the owner of the 
obnoxious house) had told him about his residence and what a fine one 
it was, and, according to the description, it ought to be visible from 
where they stood ; but as he was unable to see anything of the kind, he 
concluded that Mr. Blank had been boasting of something that didn't 
exist, and he would thereafter shun his acquaintance. Then the builder 
of the wall was happy, and felt amply repaid for all his trouble." 

Everybody laughed at the story, with the exception of Mrs. Bassett, 
who only smiled slightly. Evidently she was doubtful about its accu- 
racy, as she proceeded to question her son upon a certain point in the 
narrative which troubled her. 

" I wish you would tell me, Frank," she said, " how such a thing is 
possible with the changes of season and weather. The landscape on the 
wall must have been of one season of the year and one kind of weather. 
If it was painted to represent the scene on a bright summer's day, with 



MARY'S READY WIT. 



427 



the trees in full leaf and the ground green with its carpet of grass, it 
certainly couldn't match the scene outside of it in autumn or winter, 
with the trees leafless and the ground brown and bare, or else white 
with a covering of snow." 

" I only tell the story as I heard it," replied Frank, " and that point 
wasn't mentioned. It isn't my affair to help the man out of his diffi- 
culty, or repair any of his blunders." 

" I'll try to help him out," said Mary. " I'll be more generous than 
you are. See if I am not." 

"All right; I'll be greatly obliged," was the reply. " But how will 
you do it ? I can't begin to guess." 

" Why, this must be the explanation \ the man who built the wall 
and had it decorated was a fashionable gentleman. He only entertained 




TILLAGE IN THK MOUNTAIN'S. 



428 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

at his country-place during ' the season,' and kept the house closed for 
the rest of the year. He had the picture painted for ' the season,' and 
for no other time. Probably it represented a bright day, and if it rained 
when visitors were there the view of the ' view ' was postponed to fine 
weather, and the guests were otherwise amused." 

" That clears up the difficulty somewhat," said Mrs. Bassett. " I 
won't mention anything else to throw doubt on the story, for fear we 
shall miss some of the scenery along the route we are travelling. Let 
us look about us again. What is that ?" 

As she spoke she pointed to the crumbling walls of a castle on a 
commanding peak, high above the river and road. Nobody could tell 
what castle it was. Frank said it was probably one of the strongholds 
formerly numerous throughout the country, but long since fallen into 
disuse. In this respect the Tyrol is not unlike other parts of Europe 
where our friends had travelled. The ruins to which Mrs. Bassett called 
attention were like hundreds of other ruins they had seen, and were 
doubtless surrounded with similar associations of tyranny, siege, foray, 
love, war, and other things that had such a prominent part in mediaeval 
life. History generally repeats itself. 

" It's of no use for me to describe the mountains, valleys, rivers, and 
other features of the scenery on the route," said Mary, " as I should only 
be repeating in great measure what we have told you about Switzer- 
land. Suffice it to say that there was enough to engage our attention 
all the time of the journey till we reached Botzen. There, as you know, 
we were to leave the train and spend the night. And now I'll tell you 
about Botzen, and how it is situated. 

" We have descended 3500 feet from the summit of the pass, so that 
we are a thousand feet nearer the level of the sea than we were at 
Innsbruck. Fred says the situation of the two places is very much the 
same, only a great deal different. One is on the northern side of the 
Alps and the other on the southern side, which makes a vast deal of 
difference, even were there no other points to note. Innsbruck is in a 
broad valley, while Botzen is in a narrow one ; Innsbruck is clean and 
bright, while Botzen is full of vile smells, though it has streams of water 
running through its streets, and seems to be well drained. 

" Botzen was founded long before the memory of the great-grand- 
father of the oldest inhabitant's great-grandfather, as it was placed here 
by the Romans. The Italians call the place Bolzano, which is near 
enough like Botzen to satisfy any one who is not too exacting. 

" They tell us that Botzen is a very busy commercial town, and has 



BOTZEN AND ITS HISTORY. 



429 



some important manufactories. It commanded very much of the trade 
between Venice and the north during the Middle Ages, and was even 
more important then than now. It has been the scene of war and pil- 
lage, and its importance in a commercial sense made it a place worth 




PARISH CHURCH, BOTZEN. 



fighting for. Situated in a cleft in the mountains, with an exposure 
towards the south, it is very warm in summer — so much so that all the 
inhabitants who can afford to maintain country-seats have resorts among 
the mountains, to which they flee in the hottest weather. 

" As we had so short a time to stay in Botzen, it was fortunate for 
us that the place is small (about 11,000 inhabitants) and very few reg- 
ular sights that must be seen. The principal sight is the parish church, 
which was built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and has a 



430 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

very pretty tower, from which there is a magnificent view. We went 
through the church, but did not climb to the top of the tower, as we 
thought we had enjoyed a sufficiency of mountain views in the Tyrolean 
Alps — for that day, at least. 

" That it is warm here occasionally is very evident from the arcades 
with which most of the sidewalks are covered, especially those along 
the business streets. I mentioned the streams of water that flow 
through the streets. They are in covered gutters with occasional open- 
ings, and at some of these openings we saw laundresses working at their 
trade of cleansing linen in the primitive way. It is proper to remark 
that the population is more Italian than German, and many of the cus- 
toms are essentially Italian as well as the houses, and the modes of living 
in them. We realize that according to physical geography we are in Italy 
and the south, though political geography assigns us to Austria and the 
north. Though still in the mountains, we are in the land of the vine, 
and there is a large business at Botzen in the sale of the wine of Terlau, 
which is produced in the neighborhood. 

" We wished we could have kept on down the valley of the Adige 
into Italy, but under the circumstances the most we could do in that 
direction was to wish. The southern part of the Tyrol contains more 
castles than the northern — in fact, it has quite a resemblance to the 
regions of the Rhine in this particular feature. There is one famous 
castle I would like to see, though probably it would not prove particu- 
larly remarkable when one stood within its walls. It is known as 
Schloss Tyrol, and was the residence of the counts of Tyrol, who pos- 
sessed a great deal of power, and made that power felt as early as the 
twelfth century. They were strong enough to give their name to the 
country, which is called Tyrol because these counts ruled over it so 
long and so despotically. 

" The old schloss is close to the town of Meran, which is a health re- 
sort about twenty miles from Botzen, and very charmingly situated. 
So pretty is it that it ought not to be monopolized by invalids, and I 
don't suppose it is, as a good many travellers who are not on the in- 
valid list go there every year. One gentleman who has been at Meran 
says the doctors and landlords of the place have exhausted the ingenuity 
of their imaginations in devising attractions for the invalid. In addi- 
tion to pleasant walks, parks, lounges, reading-rooms, music-halls, and 
the like, they have introduced a great number of ' cures,' so that an in- 
valid can never be at a loss for something that will strike his particular 
malady. They have the water-cure, the dry-air cure, the whey-cure, 



SOUTH TYROL. 



431 



milk-cure, cream -cure, grape-cure, plum- cure, and I don't know how 
many other treatments, and some of them have subdivisions. Thus the 
milk-cure is subdivided into cow's -milk, goat's -milk, sheep's -milk, and 
asses' -milk cures, and the grape-cure is divided into almost as many 
branches as there are varieties and colors of grapes. 

" South Tyrol is a very fertile region, and its agriculture is said to 
be carried on with the greatest care. Every spot of land that will bear 
anything is utilized for what it will best produce. In all the valleys 
grapes are grown, and they form the principal crop, so that wine 



fesi 



mm 




is abundant and - 
cheap. Nearly 
all the vineyards 

and fields are irrigated, and as 
there is an abundance of water 
flowing down from the mount- meran. 

ains the crops are absolutely cer- 
tain every year. In many places two or three crops of grass and other 
things are raised, and I have just been reading of no fewer than five crops 
being made in one season, and very good crops they are said to have been. 



432 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" But it is time to turn north, and I will stop right here." 

Our friends took the train from Botzen for Innsbruck and Munich, 
as originally agreed, and in due time reached the last-named city, where 
they found Doctor Bronson waiting to receive them. That the meeting 
was a happy one in every way will be inferred by our readers. It will 
also be inferred that everybody had so much to say that there was no 
time to make a record of the conversation, and consequently we are un- 
able to give even a summary of what was said. 

During the ride from Botzen to Munich, Mary suggested that 
though they had been in Austria ever since they passed the Arlberg 
Tunnel on th,eir way to Innsbruck, nobody had said anything about the 
government of the country, the imperial family of Austria, the army, 
navy, religion, or industries of the land they were in. 

"We've been too much occupied thus far," said Frank, "to attend 
to anything that was not immediately before us. Now we have a little 
leisure, and can investigate the subject you mention." 

" I knew it would be coming," said Fred, " and so I prepared my- 
self for what was inevitable." 

" I know you did," replied Mary ; " for two or three times I saw you 
were busy with The Statesman's Year-Book. I watched the chance, and 
picked the volume up for my own use one afternoon when you and 
Frank went out and learned something for myself." 

" Then you know as much on the subject as I do," was the reply, 
" and I'll leave you to tell the story.'.' 

" No," retorted Mary ; " I did not have much time for studying it, and 
am sure you can give the best account. I can tell something about the 
reigning family, but not much else. Suppose you give a little sketch of 
the country, and then perhaps I'll tell something about the Emperor and 
Empress — provided, of course, I have something to tell." 

" That's agreed," said Fred. And without more banter he proceeded 
at once with what he had to say, or, rather, he answered Mrs. Bassett's 
question, which was just then propounded, as to the number of inhabit- 
ants in the country included in the empire of Austria. 

" According to the latest returns," said Fred, "the Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy has a population of nearly 40,000,000, occuping a territory of 
241,000 square miles. These 40,000,000 include Germans, Bohemians, 
Moravians, Slovaks, Poles, Buthenians, Slovenes, Servians, Croatians, 
Latins, Roumanians, Magyars, Tyrolese, and I don't know how many 
other races and tribes of men." 

" It is said," remarked Mary, as Fred paused to take breath, after 



LANGUAGES IN AUSTRIA. 



433 




pronouncing so 
many names," that 
more than twen- 
ty languages are 
spoken in the em- 
pire. The Emper- 
or Francis Joseph 
II. is one of the 
finest linguists in 
the world, and claims to be able 
to converse with every one of 
his subjects." 

" What !" exclaimed Mrs. Eas- 
sett ; "the Emperor speaking 
twenty languages ! How can that 
be possible ?" 

Fred explained that there was 
a resemblance of some of the lan- 
guages to each other. Instead 
of languages only it would be 
more nearly correct to say " languages 
and dialects." German is the official 
language of the Imperial Government, 

but the decrees are issued in the local tongues of the provinces where 
they are promulgated. Next to German comes the Magyar language, 
which is the official one of Hungary. 

"You spoke of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy a moment ago/' 

28 



SCHLOSS TYROL. 



434 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

said Mrs. Bassett. " Why did you say that instead of ' The Austrian 
empire ' which is much shorter ?" 

"Because," replied Fred, "that is the official designation of the 
country, and has been since 1868. In German it is Oesterreichisch- 
Ungarische monarchies 

" And how does it get that name ?" 

" Because of the union between Austria and Hungary, which was 
formed in 1867, after the defeat of Austria in its war with Prussia dur- 
ing the previous year. Hungary had been for some time a kingdom 
without a king. It was conquered by Austria in 1849, and from that 
time till 1867 it was a crown-land, or province, of the empire. Its peo- 
ple refused to send representatives to the Austrian Parliament, or accept 
anything, except the fact that they were subject to the will of their con- 
querors, who held them by force. After its defeat by Prussia, the Gov- 
ernment of Austria realized the necessity of conciliating the Hungari- 
ans, and it did so by recognizing the country as an independent kingdom, 
giving back to it the provinces which had been torn away, allowing it 
to have its own Parliament and its own local management of affairs ; 
in fact, Hungary was made independent in nearly everything but the 
actual name of independence. As a part of the union, the Emperor of 
Austria was crowned King of Hungary, and so he has the double title 
of Kaiser unci Konig (Emperor and King), while the united country has 
the name of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy." 

" Then I suppose Hungary has a Parliament of its own, and can 
make laws to suit itself without consulting Austria ?" 

" Yes ; it has its own Parliament, and a ministry of its own. "When 
Parliament opens its sessions the Emperor goes there, but after cross- 
ing the line between Austria and Hungary he is no longer Emperor, but 
King. Each of the two countries has its own constitution, and each can 
legislate for itself in matters that are not common to both." 

" What are the matters that belong to both together, and how do 
they legislate concerning them ? Please tell us." 

" Foreign affairs are under the imperial direction, and so are most 
of those of the army and navy and the finances. In considering these 
matters the legislation is conducted by ' delegations,' as they are called. 
A delegation consists of 120 members — 60 from Austria and 60 from 
Hungary ; one-third are from the Upper House of Parliament of each 
country, and two-thirds from the Lower House. They hold office for 
one year only, and meet alternately at Yienna and Pesth. The ministers 
of foreign affairs, war, and finance are responsible to the delegation in 



RELATIONS OF AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY. 



435 



the same way that the ministry of England is responsible to the British 
Parliament, which you know about. 

" The relations between Austria and Hungary sometimes lead to 
friction, but there has never been any serious trouble between them 
since the adoption of the union in 1867. On some occasions the Hun- 
garians have defeated measures which were desired by the Imperial 
Government, and it sometimes happens that the legislative bodies of 
the countries are in opposition to each other. At such times affairs 
might wear a serious aspect were it not for the ' delegation ' which I 
have described. It acts as a harmonizing body, and its decision is ac- 
cepted with becoming resignation by all concerned. 

"But the bodies I have mentioned are not by any means the only 
legislative ones in the country," Fred continued. "Each of the prov- 
inces has its Diet, or Parliament, 
which has control over local affairs, 
such as the construction of roads, 
tilling the soil, local taxation, and 
also the churches and schools, and 
matters pertaining to them. The 
cities, towns, and communes have 
their local councils or corporations, 
which are elected by the people 
very much as are those of cities 
and towns in England or America. 
Some have greater powers than 
others, depending upon their char- 
ters, or upon the general constitu- 
tion, which was adopted after the 
revolution of 1848." 

" Did they have a revolution 
here at that time, as in France and 
Germany ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

"Yes," was the reply, "and it 
followed closely upon the uprising 
in Paris that drove Louis Philippe 
from his throne. The people of Vi- 
enna caught the revolutionary in- 
fection and rebelled against the 
imperial authority, and there were 
uprisings all over the empire. The 




COSTCME OF SARN THAL, TYROL. 



436 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



story is too long to tell here. The Emperor Ferdinand fled to Inns- 
bruck, where he remained till the storm was over, or at least was sup- 
posed to be. Soon after he came back there was a fresh outbreak. 

Peace and quiet were 
restored on the assem- 
bling of an Austrian 
Parliament, and the ab- 
dication of the Emper- 
or Ferdinand in favor 
of his nephew, Francis 
Joseph, who was then 
about eighteen years 
old." 

"That is the pres- 
ent Emperor, is it not ?" 
"Yes; he was pro- 
claimed Emperor of 
Austria, to succeed his 
uncle, and soon after 
taking the oath of of- 
fice he put forth a con- 
stitution for the coun- 
try of his own free will ; 
but it was not of much 
use to the people, as 
only the reactionary 
parts of it went into 
operation ; and in 1852 
it was altogether an- 
nulled, trial by jury was 
abolished, and also the 
liberty of the press, and for nearly ten years the Government was a des- 
potism of the most pronounced character. In 1861. a new constitution 
was given to the country, and, with various modifications, it has been 
in force ever since, and has been generally satisfactory. 

" Under the constitution," continued Fred, " there is absolute free- 
dom of religion, though the Emperor must belong to the Eoman Catho- 
lic Church, and the religion of the Emperor is practically the religion 
of the State, though Church and State are independent of each other. 
Every religious body has the right of undisturbed public worship and 




TVROf.ESE GIRL SPINNING. 



RELIGIONS IN AUSTRIA.— THE ARMY. 



437 



the management of its affairs, and every citizen or subject may enjoy 
his civil and political rights without regard to his religious belief." 

" Is it the same way in Hungary ?" 

" Yes, just the same." 

" What is the prevailing religion ?" 

" In Austria 80 per cent, of the people are Roman Catholics, and 
in Hungary 50 per cent. In the two countries 10 per cent, are Greek 
Catholics, 9 per cent, belong to various Protestant denominations, 7 per 
cent, are Byzantine Greeks, and 4 per cent, are Hebrews ; then there 
are a few Moslems and other people not of any Christian faith, but they 




do not occupy a prominent place g([ 

in the census statistics." g| 

" What are the rules as to mil- ji 

itary service ?" H 

" The system is very much like ; 
that of Germany or France," was ; 
the reply, " the whole male pop- m 
ulation capable of bearing arms 
being liable to duty. Every man 
from his nineteenth to his forty- 
second year is liable to service in the landsturm, or militia, at the call 



• ; '.v'v ; . ".' 



MOUNTAIN PASTURE, TYROL. 



438 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



of the Emperor, unless he happens to be serving in the active army or 
navy, in the landwehr, or in one of the reserves. The active army and 

navy belong to the two parts of 
the monarchy in common. The 
■ . landwehr is a special national in- 

stitution in each sepa- 
" : Sffi^SpiL "-= rate part of the coun- 

4|j| S-4 try, and in time of peace 

"'/f.'->^M W^-*^ "~ is only called out 




^^^^^^§0^^ 




..VuT- 



«w 



mum 



FARM-HOUSE, SOUTH TYROL. 



^ for instruction 

and drill. 
" In time of peace 
the active army is about 
300,000 strong, with per- 
haps 30,000 landwehr 
under instruction. In 
case of war the active 
army would be increased to 900,000, the landwehr to 400,000, and there 
would be a call for 500,000 of the landsturm, making 1,800,000 in all. 
There are more than 4,000,000 men in the monarchy who could be 
required to serve in the landsturm in case of war, or one in ten of the 
entire population of the two sections of the country. 

" As for the navy," the youth continued, " it is less powerful than 
that of Germany or of France. It has two turret -ships and eight ships 
with casemates, besides two or three that are designated as 'ram-cruisers.' 
It is particularly strong in torpedo-boats, of which it has more than 
sixty. Most of these torpedo-boats are small, and intended for coast 



THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 439 

service; but it has eight sea -going torpedo - cruisers in its fleet, and 
they are said to be very powerful and well equipped. The naval service 
on a peace footing employs about ten thousand officers and men, and 
there is a seewehr, corresponding to the Jandwehr of the army. The 
terms of service in the army and navy are alike." 

Frank had shown himself a good listener while Fred was telling 
about the Austro- Hungarian monarchy, as we have just recorded. As 
the latter paused, Frank said he was reminded of something that might 
be interesting in connection with the navy of the empire. 

" What is that ?" queried Fred. 

" The battle of Lissa," replied Frank. 

"What of it?" 

" It was the first battle in the open sea in which iron-clad ships were 
engaged with each other. It was fought in July, 1866, during the war 
between Prussia and Austria, when Italy took sides with Prussia against 
Austria. The Italian and Austrian fleets had each twent} T -three vessels ; 
the Italians had eleven iron -clad vessels and the Austrians seven. The 
battle lasted four hours, and resulted disastrously for the Italians. One 
of their iron-clads, the Palestro was blown up, and all but nineteen out 
of her crew of two hundred were killed ; and another Italian iron-clad, 
the Be ff Italia, was surrounded by the Austrians and sunk. The Aus- 
trian fleet was commanded by Admiral Tegethoff and the Italian by 
Admiral Persano, who was afterwards tried for misconduct and dis- 
missed ignominiously from the service of his country." 

" Where is Lissa ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" It is an island of no particular importance in the Adriatic Sea," 
was the reply, " and would be rarely heard of were it not for this mem- 
orable battle that took place near it." 

" In that respect it is like a great many other places all over the 
world," said Fred. " Hundreds of places could be named that have be- 
come known only through the battles that have been fought in their 
vicinity. Take Waterloo, for example ; that little village in Belgium 
owes its prominence to the great battle that ended the career of Na- 
poleon, and brought about a general peace all over Europe." 

" I don't know whether we owe it to the Duke of Wellington or 
Napoleon Bonaparte that the battle was fought there," responded 
Frank ; " but we are certainly very glad that they chose a spot with 
such a euphonious name. ' Waterloo ' — it has a melodious sound. What 
a misfortune it would have been had they selected Schellingwoncle or 
Noordwidjkerhout in Holland — " 



44:0 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Or Novogeorgievesk or Brestlietewski, in Poland," interposed Fred. 

" Or Michilimacinac or Popocatepetl, in America," Mary suggested. 

" Please stop, children," exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, " or I shall have a 
headache before we get to Munich." Needless to say the war of geo- 
graphical words was suspended at once. 




MOUNTAIN AND LAKE, SOUTH TYROL. 



MUNICH AS AN ART CENTRE. 



411 



CHAPTEK XXY. 

ART TREASURES OF MUNICH.— PUBLIC BUILDINGS DEVOTED TO ART.— "THE DE- 
STRUCTION OF JERUSALEM," AND OTHER FAMOUS PICTURES.— KAULBACH, PI- 
LOT Y, AND OTHER ARTISTS OF THE MUNICH SCHOOL.— PILOTY AND THE KING. 
—THE ROYAL BLUNDER, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.— GABRIEL MAX, AND " THE 
LION'S BRIDE." — HANS MAKART; HIS STYLE OF WORK. —ACADEMY OF FINE 
ARTS.— ART STUDENTS IN MUNICH; THEIR NUMBER, AND HOW THEY LIVE.— 
THE CARNIVAL BALL.— STUDENTS WITH FORTUNES.— STATUE OF "BAVARIA," 
AND THE HALL OF FAME.— THE FRAUENKIRCHE AND ITS MONUMENTS.— THE 
NATIONAL MUSEUM AND ITS CONTENTS.— BAVARIA, AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE 
GERMAN EMPIRE.— ARMY, RELIGION, SCHOOLS, ETC.— INDUSTRIES OF MUNICH. 
—A BEER-CELLAR WITH A HISTORY. 



OUE friends spent several clays in Munich, devoting the greater part 
of their time to the art collections, for which that city is famous. 
Frank said he could have passed months there in the study of the 
paintings and sculpture which the 
place contains, and he could readily 
understand why so many students 
of art go to Munich for instruction 
and study. Fred was of the same 
opinion, and he suggested that an 
additional attraction to the art stu- 
dent was the cheapness of living in 
the city. So far as the hotels are 
concerned, the stranger does not 
see much difference between Mu- 
nich and the other capitals of Eu- 
rope. The real difference is discov- 
ered by those who take up their 
residence in Munich, and look for 
the cheapest lodgings and the res- 
taurants where prices are lowest. 

"To describe what we saw in 
Munich," said Frank, " would take 




WILHKLM TON KAULBACH. 



M2 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

many more sheets of paper than I have at my disposal at present, and, 
besides, the list of sights might be tedious. In any event, it would be 
somewhat bewildering, as the reader who has not been here might be- 
come confused over the ]STew Pinacothek and the Old Pinacothek, the 
Glyptothek, the Ethnographical Museum, and the other museums and 
collections in considerable number. I will briefly say that the Old Pina- 
cothek is a collection of more than 1400 antique pictures in a large 
building standing by itself. It is opposite to the New Pinacothek, 
which contains pictures of the present century, including copies of 
many of the antique paintings in the collection first named. 

" To go through either of these buildings and give anything more 
than the merest glance at the paintings will take more time than the 
average traveller has at his disposal. The same may be said of the 
Gtyptothek, or Repository of Sculpture, and also of the Ethnograph- 
ical Museum, the Schwanthaler Museum, the National Museum, the 
Hall of Fame, and I don't know what else. 

" From our studies of the art works of Munich we have become 
interested in the artists whose careers are connected with the city. 
Perhaps you would like to hear about them, especially as their names 
are pretty widely known all over the world. 

" One of the great pictures in the New Pinacothek is ' The Destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem by Titus.' It was the work of Wilhelm von Kaul- 
bach, a German artist, whose life was principally spent at Munich, 
though the latter part of it was passed at Berlin. It is an enormous 
picture, covering the whole wall of the large room where it hangs, and 
the work of painting it must have occupied a long time. How many 
figures there are in it I can't tell, but certainly a great many. In the 
centre is Titus driving triumphantly over the ruins of Jerusalem, and 
on each side there are groups of men and women and children, in 
whose faces it is not difficult to read the emotions of terror, anguish. 
and despair. Over the ruins of the buildings and the crowds in the 
foreground the artist has represented the five prophets that foretold 
the destruction of the city ; and there are avenging angels coming out 
of the sky, and evidently joining the conqueror in his work of destruc- 
tion. Then there are other angels who are caring for the Christians 
and leading them to places of safety, and there is one group where the 
children of the Christians are being separated from those of the unbe- 
lievers. Then there are demons driving out the Wandering Jew, and 
altogether the picture is a strange combination of the natural and su- 
pernatural on a single canvas. 



WILHELM VON KAULBACH. 



443 




THE " BUSH-RANGER." [F DietZ.] 



" There is a curious circumstance connected with the life of Kaul- 
bach that, though his father intended that he should become an artist, 
he showed very little inclination for painting until a collection of en- 
gravings, illustrating Schiller's tragedies, fell into his hands, and seemed 
to give an impulse in the right direction. He was born in 1805, and 
died in 1874. His first famous picture, ' The Madhouse,' was painted 
when he was twenty-four years old, and from that time until his death 



444 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



he was never idle. ' The Destruction of Jerusalem ' was completed in 
1838. In the previous year he finished ' The Battle of the Huns,' which 
resembles the other great picture in combining the ideal with the real. 
According to the tradition, the Huns fought before the gates of Rome ; 
[and as they were killed their spirits rose in the air and continued the 
battle against the Romans with great vigor. 

" Another famous artist whose name is associated with Munich is 
Karl Theodor Piloty, who is a native of the city, where he was born in 
1826. He succeeded Kaulbach as President of the Academy of Fine 
Arts, after the death of the latter. His line of work is chiefly historical, 
and he does not introduce the supernatural into his paintings, after the 
manner of Kaulbach and a few others. 

" We have been much interested in one of Piloty's pictures, partly 
by reason of its size, and also on account of the history that is connect- 
ed with it. The canvas is forty feet long, and he was obliged to paint 
it in Kaulbach's old studio, for the reason that his own studio, thirty- 
five feet square, was too small to 
contain it. It is an allegorical his- 
tory of Munich, and the figures in 
it are portraits of citizens who have 
been distinguished in art, science, 
commerce, or anything else that has 
tended to the progress of the city. 
It was painted to order, and when 
it was completed the artist received 
$25,000 for his work. 

" A good story is told about Pi- 
loty which I think you will enjoy, 
as I did when I heard it. One day 
he was at Work on a picture rep- 
resenting a scene in German his- 
tory (' Seni Discovering Wallenstein 
Dead'), and he had been busy for 
hours trying to drape a curtain so 
that it would hang to suit him. He 
had just succeeded, and was about 
to put the drapery in his picture, 
when there was a knock at the door of his studio. The visitor was no 
less a personage than the King of Bavaria, who was a great patron of 
art, and had a personal acquaintance with the principal artists in the city. 




l! */ A 



KARL THEODOR PILOTY. 



WHAT A KING DID. 445 

" The King managed, during the course of his visit, to walk against 
the drapery, and completely break up the arrangement that Piloty had 
just made. The artist smothered his anger as best he could. Had it 
been any one else than the King he would have ' spoken his mind,' and 
ordered the visitor from the room. When the King had gone Piloty 
tore his hair, and vented his rage on the air of his studio. Before pro- 
ceeding to rearrange the drapery, he took another look at it, and found 
that it contained a new fold that was just what he desired. It was 
really in better shape than before the King walked against it, and 
he sat down at once and sketched it into the picture he was pro- 
ducing, and it is there to-day.* 

" Mamma called our attention to a picture entitled ' The Lion's 
Bride,' which was painted by Gabriel Max, another celebrated artist of 
the Munich school. It isn't a pleasing subject, though it is a fascinating 
one. I would not like to have it in my private gallery, if I had one, as 
the suggestions in it are not such as one would wish to have before him 
every clay. But it is a fine painting for a public gallery, and the same 
may be said of the majority of this artist's works. The subject of ' The 
Lion's Bride ' is taken from a German poem. It represents a young 
girl, a Christian martyr, who has been given to the wild animals in the 
Colosseum at Borne for them to devour for the amusement of the popu- 
lace and the gratification of their own hunger. "While a great lion is 
crouching over her, some one in the crowd of spectators drops a flower 
in front of the girl to signify that all the spectators are not pitiless — one, 
at least, being in sympathy with her. The fall of the flower causes the 
lion to pause before tearing his victim to pieces, and it is this incident 
that the artist has placed on the canvas. 

"I must not forget to speak of the Kunstverein, or Art Union, of 
Munich, which has an exhibition every week. We went to see the col- 
lection for this week, and a very good one it is, though it does not by 
any means contain pictures by all the artists in Munich. The best of 
them do not generally send their paintings there, though they belong to 
the Union, which anybody may join by paying twenty marks (five 
dollars). At the end of the week the collection is sent to another city 
for exhibition, and a new one takes its place. Some of the pictures are 
bought by the Union, provided the price does not exceed a certain limit. 
At the end of each year the pictures are disposed of by a lottery among 
the members, and everybody, whether he draws a painting or a blank, 

* See The Boy Travellers in Northern Europe, p. 393. 



446 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



receives a fine engraving which is worth one-half the amount of his an- 
nual subscription, and sometimes more. 

" The Academy of Fine Arts is supported by the Government, which 
pays liberal salaries to the professors, and makes a very low charge to 
the students who take instruction there. An artist with whom I talked 




" the lion's bride." — [By Max.] 



yesterday, a young American who has been here two or three years, 
says that Munich is the cheapest of the art schools of Europe, and at 
the same time is one of the very best, if not the best, of all. 

" One of the celebrated artists of Munich is — or, rather, was — Hans 
Makart. He was a native of Salzburg, in Austria, and came in early life 
to Munich, where he studied under Piloty. When the Austrian Impe- 
rial Art School was established at Yienna, the Emperor called from 
Munich all the distinguished Austrian artists who were living there, 
and gave them appointments as instructors in the new school. Makart 
was one of them, and from that time till his death in 1884 he was 
prominently connected with Austrian art, and was the idol of his art- 
loving countrymen. His first picture to become famous was ' A Sleep- 
ing Horseman Embraced by a Nymph,' and bis fame was increased by 



HANS MAK ART'S WOEK. 447 

a painting that appeared soon afterwards, entitled ' Modern Flirtations.' 
Among his later works were 'Leda and the Swan,' 'The Plague of 
Florence,' and ' The Entry of Charles Y. into Antwerp.' He was only 
forty-four years old when he died, and had already established a greater 
fame than many an artist obtains at sixty. 

" Makart's figures are admirably drawn," Frank continued, " and all 
the artists say that his coloring is fully equal to his drawing. He spent 
some time in Egypt and other parts of the East, and many of his pict- 
ures were made from Oriental subjects. One of his paintings is en- 
titled ' Fellah Women at the Fountain.' It represents two Egyptian 
women at a fountain — one of them with a jar of water on her head, 
and the other just preparing to fill her jar, and pausing to look at some- 
thing which is not shown in the picture. The full face of the first one 
is presented to the spectator. She holds a child with one arm, while the 
other is occupied with the support of the jar. The second woman's 
face is in profile, and shows the large, lustrous eye for which the Egyp- 
tian women are noted. The dress is thoroughly characteristic, and as 
we looked at the picture Fred and 
I could easily imagine we were 
again in Cairo, or along the Nile, 
at one of the thousand points where 
scenes like this abound. Mamma 
and Mary could not share our feel- 
ings, as they have never been in 
Egypt, but they were charmed with „ 

the painting, and eagerly asked 
where they could see more of the 
work of Hans Makart." I s , 

" How many art students are - ■" ■ Sm 

there in Munich?" queried Mrs. - •'. 4fllg 

Bassett, as Frank paused, after f/lM'f 

reading the foregoing sketch of • -llP'^IlP 
some of the famous artists of the ' ' |P|l|l§lllf^ 

Bavarian capital. xX ^\ x<^ . 

" I am told that there are more 
than two thousand of them," re- gabriel max 

plied Fred, "and one gentleman 
said he thought that there were nearly, if not quite, three thousand." 

" They are of all nationalities, and of all sorts and conditions," said 
Fred, " from rich men with talent, or without it, down to artists who 




448 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




are poor in every sense of the word. Some of them spend a great deal 
of money, while others live on ' next to nothing,' for the simple reason 
that it is all they have to eke out existence with. Some of them dress 
like dandies, others are in every -day garb that does not distinguish 

them from ordinary citizens, and 
others again wear their hair long, 
dress shabbily, and adorn their 
heads with slouch hats that sug- 
gest the Western cowboy. 

" I have heard of a great ball 
that the artists gave a year or two 
ago in the opera-house at the time 
of the carnival. They give these 
balls occasionally, and those who 
can afford to do so spend a great 
deal of money in getting up their 
costumes and in decorating the 
opera-house for the occasion." 

" How do they manage to spend 
so much money on costumes?" 
Mrs. Bassett asked. " They have 
their dress-suits, and even if they 
buy new ones for every ball, they wouldn't cost a great deal." 

" Modern dress was not allowed, except in the part of the house al- 
lotted to spectators," Fred explained. " On the floor all of the costumes 
were of the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, and some of them are 
said to have cost more than $1000 each. The managers were busy over 
the affair for ten or twelve weeks before the great ball came off, and 
everything was arranged with the most scrupulous care. The son of 
Kaulbach, the great artist, came as Charles V., and on his arm was a 
lady who represented the Queen in her robes of state. Then there was 
one of the artists who represented a Turkish ambassador, and had a 
retinue of forty persons, all attired in rich Turkish dress of the era rep- 
resented. Some of the costumes actually belonged to the centuries I 
have mentioned, but of course the greater part of them were made for 
the occasion by the best costumers of the world. The Turkish dresses 
were obtained from Constantinople, and the order for them was given 
more than six months before the ball came off." 

"It couldn't have been a poor struggling artist who went to that 
ball as the Turkish ambassador," said Mrs. Bassett. 



HANS MAKART. 



GREAT BALL OF THE ARTISTS. 



449 



" No, indeed !" exclaimed Mary. " If he wasn't a real Turk he must 
have been as rich as one, or had good credit." 

Other comments were made concerning the great ball of the artists 
and the life of the art students of Munich, and then our friends decided 




FELLAH WOMEN AT THE FOUNTAIN." — [Milkai't.] 



29 



450 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

that they would take a drive to the B-uhmeshalle, or Hall of Fame, 
which lies outside the city, a mile and more beyond the Carlsthor. The 
principal attraction there is the colossal statue of " Bavaria," suggestive, 
on account of its size, of the statue of " Liberty Enlightening the World," 
so well known to every resident of New York in the past few years. 

" The statue of ' Bavaria,' " said Mary, " is sixty-nine feet high from 
the sole of the foot to the top of the wreath which the figure holds 
aloft. Including the pedestal, it is about one hundred feet from the 
ground to the top of the figure. The weight of the statue is 230,000 
pounds — at least, that's what the books say. You may be sure I haven't 
weighed it for myself, nor do I intend to. 

" Frank and Fred climbed to the top of the statue by means of a 
stairway inside the figure, while mamma and I visited the Hall of Fame, 
which is just behind the ' Bavaria.' When they came down they said 
we had done wisely in staying below, as the head of the statue was like 
an oven, and they were crowded into it with others, so that it was diffi- 
cult to breathe. They looked out through the eyes of the figure, and 
had a good view of Munich and the mountains, but as they had seen the 
mountains from a great many directions and distances they did not find 
much novelty in this part of the sight. As for the city, they had already 
seen it from commanding points, and, altogether, their visit to the head 
of the great bronze was disappointing." 

We will add to Mary's account that the statue was designed by 
Schwanthaler, a native of Munich, where he was born in 1802. He ex- 
ecuted a great many busts ancf statues of famous people during his ca- 
reer as a sculptor, the most noted being those of Goethe, Jean Paul 
Richter, and the Emperor Eudolph. 

" The Hall of Fame," continued Mary, " contains busts and statues 
of men who have been famous in Bavaria, some in art, some in com- 
merce and manufactures, and some in military, princely, or other titled 
life. Poets and philosophers are also among the great men, and alto- 
gether the collection is a distinguished one. 

" It seems to me," said Mary, as she warmed with her subject, " that 
the Hall of Fame would be much^more conspicuous than it is if there 
were not so many statues and monuments scattered all through Munich, 
as we have seen since we came here. There are twenty ' squares,' and 
I don't know how many streets ; every square has its statues or mon- 
uments, and there are statues and monuments on some of the corners 
where there are no squares at all. There are statues in the parks, 
statues in front of most of the public buildings, and as for the interior 



THE HALL OF FAME. 451 

of those buildings, it would be difficult to find one of them without one 
or more ornaments of this sort. Of course there are statues in the 
churches, and some of them in the very highest style of art, and thus it 




PART OP TOMB OF LOUIS THE BAVARIAN. 



comes about that we found ourselves somewhat surfeited with statuary 
before we came to the Hall of Fame." 

As a matter of course, our friends did not fail to visit the principal 
churches of Munich, some of which contain statues and paintings of the 
highest class and of great antiquity. In the Frauenkirche, or Church of 
Our Lady, is the celebrated monument to the memory of Emperor 
Louis, the Bavarian. In some of its peculiarities it reminded Mrs. Bas- 
sett of the monument that attracted their attention at Innsbruck, and 
she eagerly asked if it was by the same sculptor. 

Frank explained that it was not the work of any one sculptor, and 



452 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



that the carvings and bronzes were of different epochs. The tomb 
consists of a catafalque in the nave of the church, with four knights in 
armor guarding the corners ; at the sides are statues of two Wittelbach 
princes, Albert Y. and William Y., and there are some admirable reliefs 
on the sides of the tomb. Emperor Louis died in 1347, and the mon- 
ument to his memory was erected nearly three hundred years later by 
the Elector, Maximilian I., who spent much money upon it. 

In the Ludwigskirche, a church of modern construction, the travellers 
had an opportunity of seeing several statues by Schwanthaler and other 
sculptors of Munich, and also of looking at the famous fresco by Cor- 
nelius — " The Last Judgment." It is a large picture, sixty-six feet by 
forty, and contains a great number of figures. 
Frank and Fred agreed that it could not be ad- 
equately described in words, and therefore they 
did not venture on a description. They had 
been warned to see this picture only in the mid- 
dle of a bright day, as the light in the church is 
not at all good, and therefore the fresco does not 
show to advantage when the sky is obscured 
by clouds or in the dim light of morning or 
afternoon, especially in winter. 

" We must not miss the National Museum," 
said Mrs. Bassett, as they were leaving one of 
the churches they had just visited. 

" We are certainly going there," said Mary, 
"as I heard Frank say we were. He remarked 
that the museum contained objects of art of 
every kind, from the days of the Greeks and 
Romans down to our own. He further said that 
every country, or nearly every country, in the 
civilized world was represented in the museum, 
special prominence being naturally given to Ba- 
varia and to the city of Munich." 

" It would not be patriotic to have the col- 
lection made otherwise," was the reply. 

" Yes," said Fred, who overheard the remarks 
of his aunt and cousin, " these museums are ar- 
ranged very like the world's fairs of the latter 
half of the present century. The country in which the fair is held takes 
rather more than half of the space for itself, and puts the rest of the 




ANCIENT WOOD - CARTING 
MUNICH MUSEUM. 



NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



453 




BROOCH OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY. 



entire globe in what remains. But there is this difference between a 
world's fair and a national museum : the fair is devoted to existing 
peoples and nationalities, while the museum has its principal interest in 
people that have passed away. Not infrequently there is more from 
ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome 
than from the more modern parts 
of the world." 

"What our friends saw in the 
museum would require a great deal 
of space to tell. The contents of 
the museum are divided into two 
principal groups, the first being a 
general chronological collection of 
the products of human industry 
for the last two thousand years. 
The second group consists of spe- 
cial collections illustrating special 
departments of industry or art, and 
too extensive to be included in the 
general collection just mentioned. 

There were carvings in wood, ivory, bone, and other substances — some 
of them of great antiquity. Among them was a brooch which dated from 
the eighth century, and was covered with a curious arrangement of braids 
and knots that must have tested very severely the patience of the hand 
that made it. Many of the wood-carvings showed that the art of work- 
ing in wood had reached a state of great perfection a thousand years 
ago, and Mary suggested that some of the carvers of the present day 
might learn something from their ancestors. 

There is an admirable collection of manuscript books, some of them 
the property of royal and imperial personages of the centuries before 
the invention of the art of printing. One of these is a missal which 
belonged to the Emperor Henry II., w r ho was crowned at Mayence in 
a.d. 1002, and died in 1024, leaving the throne to Conrad II. The missal 
was made for him a few years after his coronation, and is remarkable 
for the excellence of its illuminations. One of these, the first dedicatory 
picture, represents the King standing and receiving his crown from 
Christ, and his sword and staff of the cross from two angels, w T hile his 
arms are supported by the patron saints of Augsburg and Eatisbon. 

" "We saw in the museum," said Fred, " many relics of the rulers of 
Bavaria, and they roused our curiosity to know more about those per- 



454 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



sonages than we had yet ascertained. When we had the time to devote 
to the subject we looked it up, and found that Bavaria formed one of 
the provinces of the Roman empire, and after the fall of that empire 
the people were governed by their own dukes until the year 630, when 
the country was incorporated into the Frankish kingdom, and embraced 
Christianity. There were several changes of sovereigns and a good deal 
of warfare in the succeeding five hundred years, which need not be 
described in detail. In 1180 the Count Otto von Wittelsbach became 
duke, and his successors have ruled the country down to the present 
time. One of them, Louis the Bavarian, was Emperor of Germany for 
thirty-three years, his reign beginning in 1314, and another, Maximilian, 

was leader of the 
Catholic League in 
the ' Thirty Years' 
War.' " 

"Does Bavaria 
belong to Germany 
or Austria?" Mrs. 
Bassett asked. 

" It is a part of 
the German em- 
pire," replied Frank. 
" During the war of 
1866 Bavaria took 
sides with Austria. 
The disastrous result 
of the war, so far 
as Austria was con- 
cerned, was extend- 
ed to Bavaria, which 
was obliged to make 
a separate treaty of 
peace with Prussia 
and give up some of 
its territory." 

"What did Ba- 
varia do in the war 
between France and 
Prussia in 1870?" 
Mary asked. "Did 




MISSAL OF HENRY II. 



BAVARIA AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 455 

it make the same mistake again of siding against Prussia and get into 
trouble once more in consequence ?" 

" Not by any means," said Frank. " Louis Napoleon had counted 
upon its aid in his behalf, or, at all events, on its neutrality, and he 
was sadly disappointed. Bavaria promptly made an alliance with 
North Germany, and placed its army at the disposal of the King of 
Prussia. The Bavarian troops were very prominent during the cam- 
paign and performed effective service. The King of Bavaria took the 
first steps towards the formation of the empire of Germany by urging 
the King of Saxony and other rulers to consolidate the German States 
into an empire, with the King of Prussia at its head." 

" Did he weaken his own power in any way by entering the em 
pire?" was the question which naturally followed the foregoing state- 
ment about the imperial consolidation. 

" To a certain extent he did," was the reply ; " but less so than you 
might suppose. The constitution of the country is practically un- 
changed, the King preserves his royal prerogatives as of old, the country 
has its two Houses of Parliament, as it had before the formation of 
the empire, and the army in time of peace is entirely under the King's 
control. But in case of war the King must obey the commands of the 
Emperor, and the troops supplied by the kingdom must be in the same 
proportion as those from the rest of the empire. During peace the 
forts in the country are held by the King, but in war they are the prop- 
erty of the empire. The Bavarian troops have their own uniform, and 
the troops from Bavaria form the first and second Bavarian army corps, 
and are not numbered consecutively, like the army corps from other 
parts of the empire. So you see that by taking sides with Prussia in 
the war with France, Bavaria preserved her integrity, and has nothing 
to complain of in the way of her treatment by the Emperor." 

" That reminds me of some words which Dickens puts into the 
mouth of one of his characters — I think it was Mr. Weller," said Fred. 

" What is that ?" 

" ' Shout with the mob,' said Mr. Weller. 

" ' But what if there are two mobs?' 

" ' Shout with the largest,' Mr. Weller answered. Yolumes could 
not have said more." 

" Evidently the King of Bavaria had read the Pickwick Pajiers, and 
heeded the advice which they contained," Mary remarked, as Fred 
paused, after giving the foregoing quotation. 

Mrs. Bassett asked about the religion and schools of Bavaria. Frank 



456 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



NP^NSlSS. 




ANTIQUE CHEST AND POTTERY. 



replied that more than seven-tenths of the people are Catholics. The 
remaining three -tenths are Protestants, with the exception of about 
50,000 Hebrews, and a few thousand who are set down in the census re- 
ports as "of various denominations," or none at all. 

" Instruction is universal," said Frank, " all children between the 
ages of six and fourteen being obliged to attend school, unless privately 
taught at home. The elementary schools {volhsschulen) are in all the 
parishes of Bavaria. Then there are Lyceums and other schools of a 
higher grade, and above these ages again are polytechnic schools and 
universities. There are three universities, two of them Catholic and 
one Protestant. The University of Munich (Catholic) has more than 
one hundred professors and thirteen hundred students, and it has the 
reputation of being one of the best universities in Germany, if not the 
best of all in the whole empire. 

" I must not forget the trade-schools," continued Frank, " which are 
established in man}^ of the parishes and communes. Those who attend 
these schools are instructed in trades of various kinds, and also in me- 
chanics, mathematics, chemistry, drawing, and architecture. A full 
course at a trade- school fits a student for admission to a polytechnic 



TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. 



457 



school. The course is three 3 T ears in the trade-school and three in the 
polytechnic, with one year more for those who intend to be engineers." 

There was further talk about the schools of Bavaria, and then Mary 
asked what there was in Munich beyond what they had already seen. 

" There are various industries here," said Frank, " such as the manu- 
facture of optical, technological, and other instruments, machinery, 
clocks, leather goods, porcelain, glass, and other things. Then there is 
a bronze foundery, which is under Government patronage, and one of the 
finest in the world. The doors of the Capitol at Washington, Craw- 
ford's statues of "Washington and Beethoven, and other famous works of 
art were cast here, together with many others that I cannot now re- 
member. But there is one industry which may be said to surpass all 
others, and for which Munich is quite as famous as for its art." 

" What is that ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" Brewing," was the reply. " Art and beer go hand in hand in this 
city. The artists drink beer as assiduously as they use their brushes, 
and many of them have a better knowledge of malt liquors than of the 
pigments which are so essential to their work. The beer of Munich is 




A FERMENTING CELLAR. 



458 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

exported to all parts of the world, and it is a favorite with beer-drinkers 
everywhere. The local consumption is very great, as each one of the 
nearly two hundred thousand inhabitants is supposed to imbibe several, 
or many, pints of the beverage daily." 

On the subject of beer in Munich, Fred made note of a curious es- 
tablishment that he heard of. Here it is : 

" ISTot far from the Four Seasons Hotel there is, so I am told, the 
Hofbrauhaus, which is a very ancient resort for drinking beer. The 
peculiarity of the place is that every man who goes there is his own 
waiter, there being no attendants to serve customers. Everybody must 
wait upon himself, without regard to his rank. 

" This is the way it is done : A customer goes to a shelf close to 
where the beer is drawn and takes from it a mug — any one he chooses 
to take from the large number there. Each mug has a number upon it, 
and he observes the number on the one he takes. It has been rinsed 
before being placed on the shelf, but he may rinse it again if he chooses 
to do so, at a trough into which a stream of water is pouring. 

" Next he takes his place in line with others, as he would at the 
window of a post-office. This line reaches to where a man is filling 
the mugs as they are presented, and as each mug is handed in the 
price of the beer is paid to an attendant. Then the customer walks 
off to a table with his mug of beer, which he drinks at leisure. When 
he wants more beer, as most Bavarians do, he must go himself to the 
beer -drawer and have his mug refilled. The only attendants of the 
place are two or three men, who come around occasionally to gather up 
the empty and abandoned mugs, and carry them to the trough for 
rinsing and replacing on the shelf, where customers find them. 

" The princes of the royal family and other great personages go 
there to drink beer, and they do exactly like other people — take their 
mugs from the shelf and wait upon themselves, as if such a thing as 
royalty or nobility had never been heard of. The Hofbrauhaus is liber- 
ally patronized — partly on account of its quaint ways, but more espe- 
cially owing to the excellence of its beer." 



VISIT TO SALZBURG. 



459 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

FROM MUNICH TO SALZBUEG. — SHORT HISTORICAL NOTE.— THE BIRTHPLACE OF 
MOZART ; ANECDOTES OF THE GREAT COMPOSER ; THE MOZART MUSEUM ; THE 
MUSICIAN'S FIRST PERFORMANCES ; HIS REQUIEM MASS.— THE MONCHSBERG AND 
KAPUZINERBERG. — FORTRESS OF HOHEN-SALZBURG— EXCURSION TO BERCH- 
TESGADEN AND THE KONIGS-SEE.— A RIDE ON THE LAKE.— THE FAMOUS ECHO. 
—A BREAKFAST UPON TROUT FROM THE LAKE.— FISH STORIES.— VISIT TO THE 
SALT-MINES. — OUR FRIENDS IN MINING COSTUME.— DOWN "THE SLIDES."— 
POOLS IN THE MOUNTAIN. — A WALK THROUGH THE GALLERIES. — RIDING ON 
THE TRAMWAY.— A SUBTERRANEAN ILLUMINATION.— REICHENHALL AND ITS 
" CURES."— THE GAISBERG AND HELLBRUNN. 



IT was decided that" the party 
of travellers would go from 
Munich to Salzburg when their in- 
spection of the former city had 
been completed. In this arrange- 
ment Doctor Bronson fully con- 
curred, but said he would continue 
in the train to Vienna, as his aid 
would not be needed on the way, 
and he would await the others at 
the Austrian capital. 

Mrs. Bassett wanted to visit 
Salzburg because she had read that 
Mozart, the great musician, was 
born there, and she wished to see 
the house which had the honor of 
being his birthplace. Mary de- 
sired to stop at Salzburg, as the 
place is very picturesquely situ- 
ated, and, besides, there are some 
salt-mines close at hand which 
she thought would be interesting. 




COSTUMES OF THE SALT-MINE. 



460 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

Frank and Fred wanted to stop there because they knew that it would 
please Mrs. Bassett and Mary to do so. 

The distance from Munich to Salzburg is a little less than one hun- 
dred miles, and the train carried the party to its destination in three 
and a half hours. The travellers passed through a picturesque region, 
and so busy were our friends in studying the scenery that they reached 
Salzburg when Mary thought they were little more than half-way there. 

" I was right in what I had heard," wrote Mary in her journal, " that 
Salzburg is very picturesquely situated. It is on a small stream, the 
Salzach, and is crowded in between two hills or mountains, the Monchs- 
berg on the left bank of the river and the Kapuzinerberg on the right 
bank. The names of these hills made me think that the town had an 
ecclesiastical character in ages gone by, and sure enough that was the 
case. Here is a little historical note on the subject : 

" ' Salzburg was founded by the Romans. They called it Juvavum, 
and under their rule it was a flourishing town. After the establishment 
of Christianity it became a powerful seat of the new religion, and at 
one time it was the capital of the richest and strongest ecclesiastical 
principality in South Germany. In the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries the archbishops erected the splendid buildings which remain 
at this day to attest the wealth and power of their builders.' 

" The Kapuzinerberg is so called because it is the site of the exten- 
sive Capucine Monastery ; the Monchsberg is the site of another mon- 
astery; the ISTonnberg is so called from the Ursuline Convent that is 
situated upon it ; and there are other places in the neighborhood that 
indicate the former ownership to have been of an ecclesiastical charac- 
ter. Salzburg (the district or province) was secularized — in other words, 
it was shorn of its religious power — in 1802, and converted into a tem- 
poral electorate like the other electorates of Germany. 

" Frank says they had a stormy time while the province of Salzburg 
was an archiepiscopal see, from a.d. 798 till 1802, as the archbishops 
were almost always at odds with their neighbors, the emperors and 
princes of Germany, and with their own subjects at the same time. In 
1498 the archbishop expelled the Jews and everybody else who were 
considered doubtful in loyalty ; and in 1731 all the Protestants in the 
province — and there were nearly twenty thousand of them— were driven 
out and found refuge in East Prussia. After the secularization, Salzburg 
was given to the Grand-duke of Tuscany ; then it became the property 
of Austria ; then Napoleon obtained it through the peace of 1809, and 
gave it to Bavaria, which five years later gave it to Austria. Thus it 



BIRTHPLACE OF MOZART. 



461 



had five different ownerships in twelve years, and the people must have 
been puzzled to know exactly what they were in the way of nationality. 

" So much for history, and now for the things of the present day. 
The town has perhaps 25,000 inhabitants, and it contains a fine palace, 
which they call the Residenz Schloss ; and close to it there is a very hand- 
some cathedral. We didn't see anything of the palace except the outside, 
and we didn't spend much time in the cathedral, which deserved more 
attention than we gave it. The fact is, mamma was in a hurry to get 
to the house where Mozart was born, which is in a side street, only a 
little way from the Besidenz Platz, or Palace Square. 

" But before we went to the house we looked at the monument to 
Mozart, which is in the Mozart Platz, just east of the Residenz Platz. 
His statue by Schwanthaler, the sculptor who made the colossal ' Bava- 
ria,' is the principal feature of the monument, and the likeness is said to 
be excellent. And, 
by-the-way, any 
traveller who comes 
here not knowing 
that Mozart was 
born at Salzburg will 
find it out before he 
has been an hour in 
the city. The house 
and monument are 
the first things that 
are called to his at- 
tention, and he sees 
Mozart souvenirs in 
all the shops. Fred 
says he wouldn't be 
surprised to find the 
hatters selling Mo- 
zart hats, the tailors offering to fit a customer with a Mozart cloak or 
coat, and the boot-makers recommending Mozart boots. There are Mo- 
zart pens and pen-holders, paper stamped with Mozart's portrait, and as 
for his compositions, they are offered to you in every music -store, so I 
am told. A poultry dealer is said to have Mozart's hens. 

" The house where the great composer was born (in the year 1756) 
is at ISTo. 7 Getreidegasse — please remember it, so that when you come 
here you'll know the place. It is not a remarkable house, and the 




CLOISTER OF THE NONNBERG. 



462 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

most interesting thing about it is the Mozart Museum on the third floor. 
They have the veritable piano on which Mozart played ; they have some 
of his clothing, the pens with which he wrote, some of the manuscripts 
of his compositions, a violin and other musical instruments that belonged 
to him, and also some portraits that were painted during his lifetime, 
and are said to be authentic, though not greatly alike. 

" It is said of Mozart that he learned passages from his sister's music- 
lessons when he was only three years old. When he was four years old 
his father, who was a musician of considerable celebrity, began to give 
him lessons on the harpsichord ; and when he was five years old he com- 
posed simple melodies with correct harmonies, which his father wrote 
out. When he was six years old his father took the boy and his sister, 
then aged eleven, to Munich, where they played before the Elector, to 
the great astonishment of that individual; and in the same year the 
party visited Munich, and appeared before the court with great success. 

" To show what a fine ear Mozart had for music, they tell a story 
which is related by Schachtner, one of the Austrian musicians at the 
time of his visit to Vienna. The boy, who was known by his middle 
name of Wolfgang, was playing his own violin, and remarked : 

" ' Your violin is tuned half a quarter of a note lower than mine, if 
you have left it as it was when I last played it.' 

" Schachtner sent for his violin, and when it was brought it was 
found to be exactly as the little six-year-old Wolfgang had said. No 
wonder he became the great musician that the whole world now knows 
about and holds in such high esteem. 

"Here is an extract from the advertisement of their concert in 
Frankfort in 1763, after performances had been given in Paris, London, 
and other cities of England and the Continent : 

" ' The girl, now in her twelfth, and the boy, in his eighth year, will 
not only play concertos upon the harpsichord, but the boy will also per- 
form a concerto upon a violin, accompany in symphonies upon the harp- 
sichord, cover the keys with a cloth and play as well as if they were in 
sight, and also designate any note or chord struck at a distance, whether 
upon a harpsichord or any other instrument, or upon bells, glasses, mu- 
sical clocks, etc. Finally, he will extemporize not only upon the harpsi- 
chord, but upon the organ, so long as any one desires, in all, even the 
most difficult keys that can be proposed, and thus prove that he under- 
stands the organ, which is totally different from the harpsichord in its 
treatment.' 

" The next time I listen to ' Don Giovanni ' or to ' The Maffic Flute ' 



MOZART'S REQUIEM MASS. 



463 



I shall enjoy it more than ever before, when I remember it was com- 
posed bv Mozart. I have just been reading a sketch of his life, and was 
especially touched by the circumstance that Mozart's Eequiem Mass 
was written in the last days of his life and while he was very ill. A 
mysterious stranger 
had asked him to 
write it, and paid him 
part of the price in 
advance; the com- 
poser was seriously ill 
at the time and never 
recovered, and he 
seemed to feel while 
at work upon the re- 
quiem that he was 
writing it for his own 
funeral. His last work 
upon it was done only 
a few hours before his 
death, which occurred 
at Vienna in 1791." 

On the south-east 
point of the Monchs- 
berg is the fortress 
of Hohen Salzburg, 
which commands the 
city either for its pro- 
tection or its destruc- 
tion. Our friends vis- 
ited the fortress by a 
winding road, and 

were well repaid for their trouble by the fine view they had from the 
topmost tower, which embraced a considerable extent of the country. 
They were also interested in the inspection of the fortress, or such parts 
as they were permitted to see, as the structure is a very old one and 
antedates the invention of gunpowder. According to the histories the 
fortifications were begun in the ninth century, and have been enlarged 
at different epochs. The principal part of the fortress as it stands at 
present belongs to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

" Some of the rooms in the fortress have been restored in the old 




JOHANNES WOLFGANG AJIADEUS MOZART. 



461 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



style," said Fred, " and are very interesting. They contain ancient fur- 
niture to delight the heart of a curiosity hunter, and there are several 
pieces that we wished we could buy and send home to America. That 
the weather is cold here in winter is shown by the stoves scattered 
through the castle, the finest of them being a stove of Gothic style dat- 
ing from the year 1501. Some of the ancient stoves are almost exactly 
of the pattern used to-day, showing that though the fashions of gar- 
ments may change, that of stoves remains very much the same. 

" The fortress is much larger than we expected to find it. I don't 
know its dimensions, but you can realize its greatness when I tell you 
that there is in its court-yard a good-sized church that was built in 1502. 
It is a very well-built church, and contains some fine work in red marble. 

Among other things 
there are statues of 
the Twelve Apostles in 
that material, and they 
are all well made and 
very effective. 

"We found enough 
in Salzburg and imme- 
diately around it to 
keep us occupied for 
the day, and when we 
went to bed at night we 
were all tired enough 
to sleep well. We re- 
tired early, as we in- 
tended to be up in 
good season, in order 
to make an excursion 
to the salt-mines, six- 
teen miles away." 

Frank was the ap- 
pointed historian of the 
excursion to the salt- 
mines, and we will list- 
en to his stor}^ of what 
they saw and did. 

" We started at six 
in the morning," said 




ANTIQUE GERMAN STOTE. 



VISIT TO THE SALT-MINES. 465 

Frank, " hiring, the night before, a carriage with a good team, as the 
journey is a long one and by no means easy. For those who do not 
wish to hire a carriage there is a tramway and omnibus line to the salt- 
mines and the Konigs-See, which is one of the sights of the excursion. 
The road is good, but here and there it is hilly, so that the horses must 
walk more frequently than is agreeable to a traveller who is in a hurry. 

" We followed the valley of the Salzach — the stream on which Salz- 
burg is situated — for several miles, and then turned away from it to 
ascend the valley of the Aim. In the valley of the Salzach the ground 
was comparatively level, but that of the Aim had a good deal of up 
and down hill, the uphill predominating. Kemember, we are still in 
the Tyrol now, as the region around Salzburg belongs to the Tyrolean 
Alps, and you cannot imagine a Tyrol without hills any more than you 
can think of a ' Hamlet ' without Hamlet. * 

" We drove directly to Berchtesgaden, the village nearest the salt- 
mines, and there had a breakfast, for which we brought excellent ap- 
petites with our early start from Salzburg. We had telegraphed to 
have it ready on our arrival, and there it was. One of the items which 
attracted attention and taste was a dish of trout, fresh from the Konigs- 
See, and you may be sure we gave these royal fishes their full meed of 
praise, both by word and deed. We had not expected to find them 
here, and therefore they greeted us as a pleasant surprise. 

"Berchtesgaden is near the salt-mines — perhaps I should say that 
the salt-mines are near Berchtesgaden, and you may have it any way 
you choose. It is also near the Konigs-See, which we came to see, 
and to which we drove as soon as breakfast was over. The village, or 
town, has about two thousand inhabitants, is in the narrow valley of the 
Aim, and is overlooked by the Watzmann, a mountain with a double 
peak that reminded us of one of the mountains which we saw from 
Innsbruck. There is a royal chateau here which was once an abbey, 
whence the district was ruled by the monks, who were powerful and 
rich. At any rate, that was the case with the abbey, though the indi- 
vidual monks were doubtless as poor as they are reputed to be all over 
the world down to this day. 

"It is only three miles from Berchtesgaden to the Konigs-See, and 
the road is a picturesque one. But picturesque as it is, it cannot com- 
pare with the lake itself, which is one of the prettiest sheets of wa- 
ter we have seen in Europe. It is not a large lake, as it is only six 
miles long and less than two miles across in its widest part. It lies 
2000 feet above the level of the sea, and its waters are as pure as those 



4:66 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




THE WATZMANN, OVERLOOKING BERCHTESGADEN. 



of any other lake in the world. The lake is very deep, and its depth 
makes it appear of a beautiful emerald green, which harmonizes with 
the surrounding foliage, and at the same time forms an agreeable con- 
trast. The great hills and mountains slope directly down to the lake, 
so that the body of water appears smaller than it really is in conse- 
quence of the grandeur of its surroundings. 

" "We hired a boat for an excursion on the lake, as this is one of the 
things to be done when you visit the Konigs-See. The boat was of the 
Italian model, long at bow and stern, and with an awning in the centre 
that sheltered us from the sun. Our rowers, two men and a young 
woman, the latter with arms like a blacksmith's, knew their business, 
and pulled us along as though they wanted to make the excursion as 
short as possible for all concerned. 

" Where we took the boat there was a little bay, from which it was 
impossible to see the principal part of the lake. Mamma mistook this 
bay for the lake, and declared, with much vehemence, that it could not be 
six miles long, or even half of it. She found out her mistake when we 
turned out of the bay into the lake, and at the same time her eyes rest- 
ed upon a scene of snow-clad mountains in the distance, beyond a fore- 
ground of forest-crowned hills. She forgot her recent mistake in the 
great beauty of the view, and it is fair to say that we forgot it, too. 



ECHOES ON THE KONIGS-SEE. 467 

" "When we were at the narrowest part of the lake, and they told us 
it was also the deepest, one of the boatmen brought out an old pistol, 
which he fired three or four times to awaken the echoes. They were 
really remarkable, as they were repeated over and over again, and died 
away in a manner that reminded us of distant thunder. The first echo 
seemed a great deal louder than the report of the pistol which awoke 
it, and even the subsequent noise was very far from light. Fred sug- 
gested that he would like to hear a cannon fired in that spot, just to see 
what kind of an echo it would produce, and he was very sorry that he 
had not equipped himself with some cannon-crackers of Chinese manu- 
facture. Mary thought that if a pistol could make such an echo she 
was afraid a cannon might bring the mountains tumbling about us, and 
she was quite glad of Fred's forgetfulness in the matter of the cannon- 
crackers and other artillery. 

"We landed two or three times, our longest stay on shore being at 
the farther end of the lake, where we walked to another mountain lake 
called the Ober-See. It is about a mile long, and shut in by precip- 
itous mountains on all sides except on that nearest the Konigs-See, 
where there is an alp or pasture that seemed to contain almost as many 
square yards of rock as of land where animals could find anything 
to eat, and in places there was more rock than grass. 

" Then we made another landing on our return, and this time we had 
a dish of trout similar to that which formed our breakfast. The land- 
ing is known as St. Bartholomae. There is a royal hunting chateau there 
which is open to the public when not in use by the court — in fact, it is 
rented to the proprietor of the restaurant where the trout are served for 
the curiosity and appetites of visitors. The trout are called ' Sai'bling'* 
by the Germans, and their scientific name is Salmo salvelinus ; they 
are the product of the Konigs-See, and can only be caught by special 
permission of the Government authorities. 

" The chateau is an old building, and has a chapel attached to it 
where great numbers of pilgrims go to say their prayers on St. Bar- 
tholomew's Day. The hallway contains pictures of some remarkable 
trout that have been caught in the lakes during the last hundred years 
and more. Mary said it was the Hallway of Piscatorial Fame, and of 
the same general character as the Hall of Fame at Munich, the name of 
each captor being given along with the portrait of his fish. 

" I was about to mention the size of some of these prize trout, but 
Fred hints that the records of our travels may be called in question 
if it contains ' fish stories,' which are not usually associated with 



468 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

unflinching veracity. Therefore I forbear, and merely say that the trout 
were large — for trout ; but small when compared with whales. 

" Our excursion on the lake, including the stoppages, took nearly 
four hours, and it was very enjoyable. When we reached the landing- 
place on our return we started to pay the boatmen, and were referred to 
the schifflmeister, or boat-master, who regulates the entire business, and 
receives the money for the services of the boat and rowers. This did 
not hinder an appeal from our rowers for a gratuity for themselves, 
which custom has made obligatory — or very nearly so. Then they 
wanted something for the powder consumed in awaking the echoes, and 
when this had been paid they suggested an additional fee for the use of 
the pistol. But we drew the line at the powder, and refused anything 
more, much to the boatmen's disgust. 

" Our carriage was waiting for us at the boat-landing, and, as the 
horses had had a long rest, we dashed off in good style to the salt-mines. 
These mines are the property of the King of Bavaria, and yield a revenue 




BOAT-LANDING, KONIGS-SEE. 



to the Government. They have been worked for a long time, and, as far 
as can be seen, are practically inexhaustible. It is one of the easiest 
salt-mines in the world to visit, as the whole of the sight-seeing does 
not take more than an hour, and every arrangement is made for the 



IN THE SALT-MINE. 469 

comfort of visitors. Ten or twelve thousand visitors are admitted every 
year, and there is a good revenue from the sale of tickets. The part of 
the mine which is shown to visitors is not by any means the whole of 
the excavation, though it probably answers the purpose of the ordinary 
traveller just as well as though he were carried through the entire 
workings from one end to the other. 

" Two kinds of salt are produced at the mines of Berchtesgaden. The 
first is rock-salt, for cattle, which is quarried out in blocks and has more 
or less earth in it, so that its color is not at all attractive ; four or five 
thousand tons of this are taken out every year, the amount being varied 
according to the demand. A more important product is pure salt 
for table and other uses, of which they make twenty-five or thirty thou- 
sand tons yearly. I'll tell you how they refine it after I have described 
the visit that we made to the mine. 

" There are five galleries, one above the other. We were taken into 
the mine through the lowest gallery, and then up into the second one 
by means of stairways cut in the solid rock or earth, or made of wood. 
Then we went down again, then up again — in fact, there were so many 
ups and downs in our journey that I can't pretend to enumerate them. 

"Before starting everybody put on the costume of the mines, leaving 
his or her own outer garments carefully guarded by the custodians at 
the entrance of the works. This dress was prescribed by King Ludwig 
of Bavaria, who was fond of making everything as dramatic as possible, 
and it has been continued to the present time, for the probable reason 
that it enables additional fees to be charged for the use of the garments. 
A lantern goes as a chromo with each suit of clothes, and thus equipped, 
along with some twenty or thirty others, we were an odd-looking lot of 
travellers. We had a good deal of laughter before we started, and the 
guide said it was always necessary to allow five or ten minutes for 
laughter when a party assembled. When we had done with our laughing 
we started at a signal by one of the guides, who led the advance. Mam- 
ma and Mary were each escorted by a guide, and the same was the case 
with each woman of the party. Fred and I were supplied with heavy 
gloves of leather, and we asked what they were for. 

" ' You'll find out very soon,' replied the guide nearest us. And 
find out we did before the journey ended. 

"We started into the mine on foot, and altogether we must have 
walked a mile or more while we were inside the mountain. The salt 
was above, below, and around us ; and nobody knows how extensive it is. 
They have sunk shafts 200 feet below the lowest workings, and found 



470 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

salt all the way ; and as for the upper part of the mountain, it is known 
to be a mass of salt of very great extent. 

" Mamma was much surprised to find pools or lakes in the mountain, 
and to learn that the places for these pools had been excavated by the 
workmen. These pools are for dissolving the salt in water, which is let 




KONIGS-SEB. 



in through large pipes from the upper parts of the mountain. It lies there 
four or five weeks, until it has taken up all the salt it will hold, which is 
about twenty-seven pounds of the mineral for every hundred pounds of 
water, and sometimes a little more. 

" There is one pool which is no longer used for the purpose of dis- 
solving the salt. This pool Ave crossed in a boat, and it was dimly lighted 
up by hundreds of miners' lamps placed around it. Mary said the light 
just made the darkness visible, and enabled her to see it a great deal 
better than if there had been no light at all. 

" We landed from the boat close to a great block of salt, on which 
were the words, ' Gluck auf P — the welcome of the miners to all who 
visit them. Then we were told to mount astride of a smooth rail, by 
which we were to descend to a lower level. The ladies were placed in 
the front of the line, each of them under the escort of a miner or guide, 



AN UNDERGROUND SLIDE. 471 

but the gentlemen had no such escort. Here it was we learned the uses 
of our leather gloves. We were told to grasp a rdpe that hung just above 
the rail and a little to one side, and by means of this rope we were to 
check the rapidity of our descent. All the miners and guides held firmly 
to the rope, and away we went, sliding down an incline that was not far 
from 45°. Fred said it seemed to him at times to be almost perpendic- 
ular, but his imagination probably ran away with him. 

" We passed through several chambers and galleries, and at length 
came to a tramway which was said to take us out of the mine into the 
open air. The ladies were placed in rough cars, while the gentlemen 
mounted astride of a long rail on wheels, very much as they had sat 
upon the slide by which we previously descended. At the head of the 
line was a car with a powerful brake, and there was a similar car at 
the rear. When the signal to start was given we moved off — slowly at 
first, and soon more rapidly. The road leads down an incline so steep 
that the train would be dashed to pieces if it were not controlled by the 
brakes, and whenever the speed seemed to be at all dangerous or trying 
to the nerves it was checked at once. 

"The ride was like the one on the Switchback road in Pennsylvania, 
only it was not more than a mile or so in distance, and was underground 
instead of out-of-doors. By-and-by we saw a glimmer of light ahead 
of us, and a few moments later found ourselves in the hot air outside 
the mountain, and ready to descend from our queer vehicles. Photog- 
raphers were ready to take pictures of us in our mining costumes, and 
the attendants gathered about us to sell specimens of rock-salt and in- 
timate that gratuities for their services would not be refused. As soon 
as we could do so we changed to our own garments and started for the 
return ride to Salzburg after a well-spent day. 

" Now let us go back to where we left the salt dissolving in the 
water in one of the pools inside the mountain. 

"When the water is sufficiently charged with salt it is allowed to 
flow through pipes and channels into a reservoir, whence it is pumped 
to another reservoir TOO feet higher than the first one. From this reser- 
voir it flows into another four miles away, whence it is again pumped 
1200 feet to the top of the mountain. The pumping is done by engines 
worked by water-power, which is abundant and unfailing, so that the 
work is by no means expensive. From the last reservoir the brine 
flows by gravity to Reichenhall, twenty miles away. Here some of it 
is evaporated till it produces crystallized salt, which is then ground 
for table and other uses. Reichenhall supplies three other places with 



.472 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



brine for their salt-works, and altogether they have an extensive busi- 
ness of a permanent character. 

" Do not suppose that all the salt in Bavaria comes from the mine 
that we visited. There are other mines in this district, and there are 
springs of water at Reichenhall containing 25 per cent, of salt. We are 
close to the boundary between Bavaria and Austria, and there are salt- 
yielding hills on both sides of the line. In all the mines of this region 
the processes of obtaining the saline mineral are very much as we saw 
at Berchtesgaden, as far as we could learn." 

" Reichenhall ought to be a health resort," Mrs. Bassett remarked, 
when she learned that it had salt-springs of its own. " The salt-baths 
would be likely to attract people who might be benefited by them." 

" Your supposition is correct, mamma," Frank answered. "Reichen- 




hall is a health 
resort of con- 
siderable impor- 
tance, and there is quite a little 
town there — or, rather, a quarter 
of the town — which is almost ex- 
clusively occupied by invalids and 
those who care for them. It is 
known as the Ourvorstadt, and 
consists of bath-houses, hotels, 
boarding-houses, and villas. One large building is devoted to the inha- 
lation-cure, which is a peculiarity of Reichenhall." 
" What is that ?" 
"It is the inhalation of the vapors arising from salt-water in the 



C^ rjUiatK 



LAKE IN SALT-MINE, BERCHTESGADEN. 



ASCENT OF THE GAISBERG. 473 

process of evaporation. They also have a pine-needle cure, in which the 
patient inhales the odors of the pine-needles gathered from the sides of 
the mountains in the neighborhood. If we should go to Keichenhall we 
would find the place full of people suffering from general debility, rheu- 
matism, asthma, and affections of the lungs in various forms. The 
town is in an amphitheatre of mountains, and is only fourteen miles 
from Salzburg, so that we can easily get there." 

" Keichenhall will keep till we come this way again," said Fred. " I 
propose that we don't go there." 

" And I second the proposition," said Mary — " provided, of course, all 
the rest agree to it without hesitation." 

" I'm sure I don't care to see the place," Mrs. Bassett remarked, 
after a moment's pause. " You said there is a railway here like the one 
up the Rigi. I think that would be more interesting than a Bavarian 
health resort crowded with invalids." 

"There is such a railway," replied the youth, "and it ascends the 
Gaisberg, which affords the finest view near Salzburg. The mountain 
is 4200 feet high ; in many ways the view from the top is like that from 
the Rigi, and the journey is very much the same." 

" How long does it take to go there ?" Mary asked. 

" It will take us twenty minutes in a carriage or by omnibus from 
the door of the hotel to the station whence the trains start. The ascent 
of the mountain requires forty minutes, the distance being a little under 
three miles, if I have been correctly informed." 

" To the Gaisberg, all !" said Mary, in a commanding tone. Then 
she turned to Frank and asked how soon they were to start on the ex- 
cursion which had been planned. 

"In about half an hour," was the reply. "That will enable us to 
connect very easily with the next train for the summit, and leave a 
margin of ten minutes or more for contingencies." 

Keedless to say, the party visited the Gaisberg, spent an hour on the 
top of the mountain, and took in the view in all directions. Though 
they enjoyed it greatly, they agreed that it was inferior to the view 
from the Rigi, as it lacked the magnificent panorama of the snowy Alps, 
which the latter affords. True, there were snow-covered mountains in 
sight from the Gaisberg, but they were not like the lofty peaks that 
cut the horizon as one looks from the grass -crowned top of the more 
famous elevation between the Zurich and Lucerne lakes. 

On their return from Gaisberg the travellers drove to the imperial 
chateau of Hellbrunn, three miles to the south of Salzburg, and spent 



474 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



an hour or more among the gardens and fountains, for which the place 
is famous. They are in the style of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries, and though the gardens were in all their glory, it was a mat- 
ter of regret that the fountains were not then in operation. But the 




COSTUMES OF THE ZILLER THAL, TYROL. 



regret was of short duration, for Fred learned on inquiry that the fount- 
ains resembled professional actors in being willing to play " for money." 
As the amount was not large it was speedily contributed, and the fount- 
ains were put in operation, to the great delight of Mrs. Bassett and her 
daughter, who found the performance very pleasing. 

"We must not forget the Steinerne Theatre," said Mary, "as it is 
one of the curiosities of the place." 



A THEATRE IN THE ROCK. 



475 



" Certainly not," said Fred ; and as soon as the fountains had settled 
down to their former idleness the party took its way to the place which 
Mary had mentioned as something worthy of a visit. 

Frank explained to his mother that in this theatre, which is hewn in 
the solid rock, operas and pastoral plays were performed before the arch- 
bishops in the days when they ruled in this region, as already described. 
Mrs. Bassett thought she might be willing to attend a single perform- 
ance in the Steinerne for the sake of novelty, but she did not think it 
would be a popular place of amusement through an entire season. 




DINING-ROOM IN THE CASTLE. 



476 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTEK XXVII. 

FROM SALZBURG TO LINZ.— DOWN THE DANUBE.— NAVIGATION ON THE "BEAUTI- 
FUL BLUE" RIVER. — POETIC LICENSE. — CASTLES, AND TRADITIONS ABOUT 
THEM. — THE ABBEY OF MELK. — A GERMAN JOKE. — ARRIVAL AT VIENNA; 
FIRST VIEW OF THE CITY.— THE RINGSTRASSE ; HOW IT ORIGINATED.— THE 
RINGS OF VIENNA.— ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH.— ANTIQUITY OF VIENNA.— THE 
VINDOBONA OF THE ROMANS.— HOUSE OF HAPSBURG-LORRAINE.— AN UNBRO- 
KEN LINE OF SIX CENTURIES.— IN A CAFE-RESTAURANT.— VIENNESE CUSTOMS. 
—PERPLEXITIES FOR STRANGERS.— DOCTOR BRONSON'S STORY OF 1873.— THE 
ZAHL-KELLNER AND HIS DUTIES.— HONESTY OF THE VIENNESE.— SHOPPING 
ON THE GRABEN.— RUSSIA-LEATHER GOODS. 

AT breakfast the next morning Frank announced the " plan of 
campaign," as Mary called it, for the day. 

" Vienna is now our objective point," said Frank ; " and the railway 
will carry us there in about nine hours." 

" I thought you told me we would not go by rail," Fred remarked, 
as his cousin paused, with a twinkle in his eye. 

" I did tell you so," was the reply. " We will go by rail to Linz, 
three hours from here, and spend the night there. At eight the next 
morning we will go on board a steamboat which will carry us to Vienna 
in eight hours, provided she has no more delay on the way than usual." 




CURSALON IN THE STADTPARK, VIENNA. 



ON THE DANUBE. 477 

" That will be delightful," said Mrs. Bassett, well pleased with the 
" plan of campaign." " We can see the ' beautiful blue Danube ' that 
we have heard so much about, and though the journey is longer, it 
will be much pleasanter than the one by rail." 

Mary echoed the words of her mother, and it was accordingly ar- 
ranged as above set forth. Frank said the train would leave Salzburg 
at 2.10 p.m., and was due in Linz at 5.17 p.m. There was not much to 
see in Linz, and an hour's drive w T ould suffice for " doing " the place. 
Then it would be time for dinner, and after dinner the motto would be, 
" early to bed," for the reason that early rising on the following morn- 
ing w T ould be compulsory, on account of the departure of the steamer at 
eight o'clock with railway punctuality. 

The head of regular steam navigation on the Danube is at Passau, 
about seventy miles above Linz ; but the boats on this part of the river 
are smaller than those running between Linz and Vienna. The scenery 
is wild and picturesque, but the towns and villages are few, the popula- 
tion is not at all what one expects to find on the banks of a great river 
of Europe, and there does not appear to be much traffic along this an- 
cient waterway. Several castles, the majority of them in ruins, are in 
sight from the river, and also several modern chateaux — one of them the 
property of the imperial family of Austria, and occasionally occupied 
by them during their periods of rest. 

The Danube is navigable from Ulm, in Wiirtemberg, but the boats 
which ply upon it between Ulm and Passau are poorly adapted for 
pleasure travel, and do not run with regularity. The Danube receives 
the Inn at Passau, and with this very material addition to its w r aters it 
becomes for the first time a river of consequence. 

The steamboat on which our friends embarked at Linz had very few 
passengers at starting, but a goodly number came on board at the va- 
rious landing-places where the boat made brief stoppages. Frank se- 
cured comfortable chairs for his mother and sister, so that they could 
study the scenery of the Danube to good advantage as the boat wound 
along on its tortuous course in the direction of Yienna. • 

" The beautiful blue Danube isn't blue at all," said Mrs. Bassett, 
very soon after they were under way. " Just look at the water, and 
say what color it is, if you can tell exactly." 

Mary looked intently, and agreed with her mother that the river 
was not blue. " It is green rather than azure," said the girl ; " but blue 
sounds better than green in poetry, when water is under consideration, 
and I suppose we must forgive the illusion that has been presented to us." 



478 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



But later in the day Mrs. Bassett admitted that there were places 
in the river where blue was predominant. Frank pointed out that the 
sky at that time was clear, and its color was reflected in the water. He 




PLAN OF THE RINGSTRASSE. 



added that if the day had been dull and cloudy, it was quite likely that 
the water would have assumed a leaden color, out of sympathy with 
the heavens above it, like the waters of other rivers. 

Mrs. Bassett and Mary were disappointed with the scenery of the 
Danube, as they found the banks flat and uninteresting for a consider- 
able part of the way. Still, there was enough of interest to keep their 
eyes busy, and their attention was specially roused by the castles — some 
in ruins and others in good condition — that were visible at irregular in- 
tervals, though less numerous than along the banks of the Rhine. 

One castle, that of Aggstein, was pointed out, which was said to 
have been the stronghold of a robber baron who was the terror of this 
part of the Danube. According to the tradition, he used to throw his 
prisoners from the rock into the river, first binding them hand and foot 
to make certain that there should be no possibility of escape, even if 
they were not killed by the fall from the walls of the castle, which 
was pretty sure to be the result in every case. 



AN ANCIENT ABBEY. 479 

Perhaps the most famous of the ancient edifices along the Danube 
between Linz and Yienna is the abbey of Melk, or Molk, which stands 
on a commanding rock 200 feet above the river, and looks more like a 
fortress or palace than the home of Benedictine monks. Mary looked 
up its history, and wrote about it as follows : 

" The abbey was founded in the year 1089, and rebuilt in the early 
part of the eighteenth century. Before the time of the abbey there 
was a chateau there belonging to the margraves of Babenberg, and the 
tombs of some of the margraves can be seen in the abbey church. Of 
course the abbey has had its share of siege and capture. It was occu- 
pied by Napoleon after the battle of Aspern, and he strengthened it so 
that he could defend himself there in case of attack. There is an ex- 
tensive library in the abbey, and in one of the chapels they have a cross 
of gold which dates from the fourteenth century. This cross is two 
feet in height, and the back is covered with pearls and precious stones 
of great value, but their exact worth is not given. 

" "We did not have time to visit the abbey," continued Mary, " and 
we did not once set foot on shore during the day, as the steamer only 
stopped the shortest possible time at each landing. Sometimes we were 
not more than half a minute at a landing, and I don't think there was 
a halt anywhere of more than five or six minutes. These boats run 
with the regularity of railway trains, though sometimes they are de- 
tained by fog or by getting aground in a low stage of water. If no 
accidents or unavoidable detentions occur, they can calculate almost to 
a minute the time of arrival at Yienna. 

"The voyage down -stream from Linz to Yienna takes eight and 
sometimes nine hours, while that up-stream from Yienna to Linz takes 
from eighteen to twenty hours. Frank says our first-class fare down is 
seven florins for each of us, but if we should take passage for the ascent 
of the river it would be only three florins ; thus the longer passage (in 
time) costs the least money. There are very few tourists who are likely 
to make the ascent of the river from Yienna to Linz ; and as for that 
from Linz to Eatisbon and Ulm, Frank says he never heard of any trav- 
eller who had undertaken it except a few canoists. 

" Fred directed our attention to two places called Grein and Stein ; 
then he said, in his very best German : 

"'Stein und Grein sind drei Orte 1 (Stein and Grein are three 
places). We all listened intently. 

" ' You are wrong, Fred,' said I ; ' they are two places, not three. 
Have you forgotten your arithmetic V 



480 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Then he laughed, and said he was perpetrating on me a German 
joke of a very ancient character. He explained that there is a Capuchin 
monastery called Und not far from Stein, and therefore it is correct to 
say, 'Stein, Und, Grein sind drei OHe? If I had only known about 
Und he would not have caught me that way." 

It was about five o'clock in the afternoon that the domes and spires 
of Yienna became visible, and preparations were made for transferring 
the passengers to a smaller steamer that takes them to the landing-place 
in the middle of the city. The Danube makes a wide bend around 
Vienna ; but there is a branch — or cut-off, as they would say in the val- 
ley of the Mississippi — called the Donau Canal, which traverses the city 
and is navigable for small boats. The current in this canal is very swift, 
and a boat must have powerful engines to be able to stem it. The cur- 
rent of the main river averages three miles an hour, exceeding this speed 
in some places and falling below it in others. 

Frank had telegraphed from Linz to Doctor Bronson, and when the 
boat arrived at the Franz Josef Quay our friends found him waiting 
for them. In a very few minutes they were on their way to the Grand 
Hotel, and when they reached their destination Mrs. Bassett declared 
that she had not seen a prettier drive from station or landing to hotel 
in any city of Europe, as far as she could remember. 

" And you would still be able to say so," replied Doctor Bronson, 
" if you should visit every city not only in Europe but the whole world. 




§#* mm 



SCHWARZENBERGPLATZ, VIENNA. 



VIENNA AND THE RINGSTRASSE. 481 

The Ringstrasse of Vienna is without a rival anywhere. The nearest 
approach to it is the Champs-Elysees of Paris, and though j^ou will find 
many features common to both, you will also find many points of differ- 
ence. The Eingstrasse is the product of the last quarter of a century ; 
it follows the line of the fortifications of the Vienna of the olden time, 
and you can see that it was liberally and magnificently planned." 

" How wide and long is it ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" From the point where it leaves the Danube till it reaches the river 
again the Ringstrasse measures two miles. It has an average width of 
nearly two hundred feet, and you observe that for much of the way it 
has a central walk, with rows of shade -trees. The magnificent build- 
ings on each side of the Ring are a great credit to the Viennese archi- 
tects, and there is no other city in the world that can show so many 
fine structures in the same distance. The Ringstrasse, in conjunction 
with the Franz Josef Quay, completely encircles the old city. If you 
look at the map you will see that the Ringstrasse has the general shape 
of the letter U while the Franz Josef Quay connects the ends of the 
letter so as to form a somewhat distorted 0. This was the old Vienna 
of past centuries. The new Vienna is something very unlike the old 
one, as you will have abundant opportunity to find out." 

" It's a funny idea, isn't it," queried Mrs. Bassett, as she looked at 
the map of the city, " to have a single street making nearly three parts 
of a circle ? I suppose ' Ringstrasse ' means ' Ring Street,' and they call 
it a ring because it almost makes one." 

" That is probably the reason," replied the Doctor ; " but if you look 
again at the lettering on the map you will find that the Ringstrasse is 
divided into several sections, and each section has a name of its own." 

" Oh, I see !" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett, as she again consulted the 
map, and read off the different names of the sections of the Ringstrasse. 
Beginning at the Aspern Bridge, over the Danube Canal, she read as 
follows, in the order here given : 

" Stuben Ring, Park Ring, Kolowrat Ring, Karnthner Ring, Opern 
Ring, Burg Ring, Franzens Ring, Schotten Ring. What a lot of them ! 
I wonder if they have a Tammany Ring, as we have in New York ?" 

" It has been hinted more than once," the Doctor answered, " that 
Vienna has afforded an opportunity for many individuals to make 
money in the construction of the public buildings that are distributed 
along the Ringstrasse. It would be very strange if something of the 
kind did not happen, as human nature is the same the world over, and 
is liable to take advantage of opportunities. But on the whole the 

31 



482 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



affairs of Vienna have been conducted ably and honestly, and to the 
great advantage and prosperity of the people." 

In the evening our friends went for a walk along the Ring, as the 
Ringstrasse is frequently called, and found it as gay as the boulevards of 
Paris, and with some of the features of those popular resorts. Thou- 
sands of people were strolling there ; but the great width of the side- 
walks gave ample room for all. This was not the case when the stran- 
gers turned from the Ring into the streets of the inner city, and took 




A PARTY AT TABLE. 



their way to St. Stephen's Church and the Graben. Here they found 
the sidewalks very narrow, and in several instances when they met 
people going in the other direction it was necessary for one party or 
the other to step in the carriage-way, or, at all events, crowd very closely 
to the curb. But there was universal politeness everywhere. There was 
no jostling or crowding, and Mrs. Bassett made up her mind that the 
Vienna peoj:>le were as polite as any she had ever seen. 



THE FOUNDING OF VIENNA. 483 

" We will leave the church for a daylight visit," said the Doctor ; 
"and it will be one of the first things you will wish to see, as it is a 
very famous building, and contains some interesting monuments." 

" Yes," said Mary ; " it contains tne tomb of Napoleon II., Duke of 
Reichstadt and King of Rome, the only son of Napoleon I., and the 
Empress Maria Louisa. Then there is the tomb of Prince Eugene of 
Savoy, and there are tombs and monuments of some of the sovereigns of 
Austria, who lived and ruled several hundred years ago. Then there 
are the catacombs under the church, and — " 

" Stop, please," said Frank ; " we are out for a stroll just now, and 
don't want our heads filled with tombs and catacombs, even if they are 
the resting-places of royalty. It will be time enough for them when 
we visit St. Stephen's and have nothing else to think of." 

" I quite agree with you," Mary answered ; " but thought it just pos- 
sible you might want to know what was to be seen in the church. It's 
an old edifice at any rate, as it dates from the fourteenth century, and 
stands on the site of a church constructed two or three hundred years 
earlier. "What they had before the church I don't know." 

" Then Yienna must be an old city," Mrs. Bassett remarked, " or it 
couldn't have such an ancient church." 

" Certainly it is," Frank answered. " The Romans built a fort on 
this spot in the first century of the Christian era, and the Emperor Mar- 
cus Aurelius died here in the year 180. The Romans called the place 
Yindobona, and it grew and flourished, and was the seat of the Roman 
civil and military government for the surrounding country till the in- 
vasion of the Huns in the fifth century. Then Charlemagne conquered 
the district near the end of the eighth century, and attached it to his 
empire. In the year 955 Yienna was an important fortified town, and it 
has been an important place ever since." 

"Was the family of the Hapsburgs here when Charlemagne con- 
quered the country ?" Mary asked, as Frank paused. 

" No," was the reply ; " they did not come here until the year 1276, 
when Rudolph of Hapsburg defeated Ottokar of Bohemia, who had 
been in possession of the country since 1251. The Hapsburgs have 
been here since then, and it is the only imperial or royal line of Eu- 
rope that can show an unbroken rule of six centuries. Down to 1740 
it was the House of Hapsburg, but since that year it has been the 
House of Hapsburg-Lorraine." 

" How did that happen ?" 

" The male line of the House of Hapsburg died in 1740 with the 



484 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Emperor Karl YI. His only daughter, Maria Theresa, married Duke 
Franz of Lorraine and Tuscany, and thus the House of Hapsburg-Lor- 
raine was founded." 

Mrs. Bassett wished to know the location of the House. She thought 
it must be very interesting. It was certainly very solidly built to have 
lasted so long, and they should not fail to see it. 

Frank evaded an explanation by saying they would, without doubt, 
see the imperial palace the next day, and if they were fortunate they 
might have a view of the Emperor taking a drive in the Prater, which 
is an every-day occurrence. 

Returning to the Ring, our friends entered one of the cafe-restau- 
rants for which Vienna is famous, and while sipping the coffee and 
soda-water which they ordered they had an opportunity to study the 
Viennese at their recreations. The result of their observation was that 
the people resembled the French more than they did the inhabitants of 
]STorthern Germany. They were vivacious and light-hearted, and seemed 
to enjoy life with greater energy than did the people of Berlin under 
similar circumstances, and also to make more noise. 

One thing that greatly amused the strangers, and especially Mrs. 
Bassett, was the Viennese habit of talking simultaneously when seated 
at table. Near our friends was a family party of six taking their sup- 
per. The conversation was active, and can best be described in Mrs. 
Bassett' s words when she sent home her next letter : 




VIENNESE WAITERS. 



HOW THE VIENNESE TALK. 



485 



" It was one of the funniest things I ever saw. Here were six peo- 
ple at one table eating and drinking, and in the intervals of the coming 
of the dishes and glasses they all joined in conversation. Every tongue 




was in motion at the same 
time. All talked at the tops 
of their voices. Nobody di- 
rected his or her conversation 
to any particular one of the 
party, but rattled away as fast 
as possible in the general di- 
rection of the rest. Frank said 
it was like a hunter shooting 
at a flock of birds without 
aiming at any one of them ; he took his chances of making an occa- 
sional hit, and I suppose these people think a word may strike somebody 
now and then just by accident. 

" The same thing was repeated all over the room, so far as we could 
observe ; it filled the air with noise, but nobody paid any attention to 
it, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The place was crowded. 



IN THE STADTPARK. 



486 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and the waiters were rushing about, receiving and filling orders ; they 
seemed to be the only ones in the place who were not talking, and I 
suppose they did not have time to talk. 

" Doctor Bronson says he has seen at a grand banquet in Austria 
something very like what we saw in the restaurant. In the banqueting- 
hall, where perhaps two hundred people were seated, there were at 
times half a dozen speakers on their feet at once, each making his speech, 
which was heard only by those within a few yards of him. Those 
who were not actually close to one of these speakers paid no attention 
to the oratory, but went on talking as though nothing had happened to 
disturb them in the enjoyment of the feast." 

Doctor Bronson explained to Mrs. Bassett that it is the custom of a 
considerable part of the population of Vienna to take its meals at res- 
taurants and cafes, and this custom accounts for the number and great 
capacity of these establishments. He added that comparatively few 
travellers take their meals at the hotels where they stop unless ladies 
are of their party, and not always in that case. The charges at the 
hotels are somewhat higher than at the restaurants, and hence the 
tendency of the traveller to go outside for his meals. 

Frank called his mother's attention to a peculiarity of the restau- 
rants of Yienna — or, rather, of the largest of them — in having one 
waiter to bring food and another to bring drink to the same table. The 
first is called speise-Jcellner (food-waiter), and the other the trinJc-kellner 
(drink-waiter). Ask the former to bring a glass of beer, and he will 
shout for the other, or perhaps he will pay no attention whatever to the 
request ; and the same is the case with the trink-hellner if he is asked to 
bring a plate of roast-beef or any other article of food. The custom is 
a perplexity to strangers, and sometimes causes a loss of temper when 
the system is not comprehended to its full extent. 

" I was in Yienna during the great exhibition of 1873," said Doctor 
Bronson, " and witnessed many a display of indignation on the part of 
English and American visitors, who would address their inquiries to the 
wrong waiters. If the man explained the situation his explanation was 
in German, which the stranger rarely understood. The latter would 
wait a few moments, and, on seeing no indication of an intent to 
carry out his orders, he would lose his temper, and, as the phrase is in 
America, ' raise a row.' The first scene of the kind that came before 
me made such a forcible impression that I have never forgotten it, and 
if I had been inclined to do so the subsequent ones would have com- 
pelled me to remember it." 



A FOREIGNER'S TROUBLE. 



487 



" Please tell us about it," said Mary. 

" It was the morning after my arrival in Vienna," said the Doctor. 
" I went to take breakfast in a restaurant, and had just given my order 
when two men, one English and the other American, entered the place 
together and sat down at a table near me. The speise-kellner was ab- 
sent, to get what I had ordered. One of the strangers beckoned to the 
trink-kellner, and briefly commanded : 

" ' Schwei bifteks, mit spiegel eier* (two beefsteaks, with poached eggs). 

" The man briefly said that he was the trink-kellner, and then re- 
turned to his place by the window, where he was chatting with another 
waiter — probably the trink-kellner of the next series of tables. 

" The strangers were vexed that he did not go to execute their or- 
ders. They vented their displeasure in comments the reverse of com- 
plimentary; then they summoned him again, and repeated their order 
with a great deal of emphasis. The man responded, as before, that he 
was the trink-kellner, and returned to his place by the window and his 
talk with his comrade, who was equally idle. 

" Then the storm broke out. The Englishman rose from his seat, 
went to where the waiter stood, and again ordered two beefsteaks with 




RATHHAUS (TOWN-HALL). 

\ 



488 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

poached eggs in tones that could have been heard a block away. The 
waiter looked steadily at him without moving a muscle, the Englishman 
shook his fist in the waiter's face, and there was a good prospect of a 
fight then and there. Meantime the American rushed to the other end 
of the room seeking for some one in authority, and fortunately found 
the head-waiter. Fortunately, too, the head-waiter spoke English, and 
was able to explain matters ; and the Englishman was soothed, and re- 
turned to his seat without striking a blow. Just then the speise-Tcellner 
came with what I had ordered, and was able to give proper attention 
to the foreigners, so that in a little while peace and quiet existed as 
before, and hunger was satisfied." 

When our friends were ready to settle their bill and depart, the Doc- 
tor rapped on the table two or three times, and called out "Zahlen!" 
immediately after rapping. He explained that this was to call another 
functionary of the establishment— the zahl-Jcellner, or pay -waiter, who 
receives the money due for food or drink. 

" Then you don't pay the waiter who has served you, as you do in 
Paris, London, or New York," said Mrs. Bassett, in a tone of surprise. 

" No," was the reply ; " the man you see there with the small leath- 
ern bag slung from his shoulder is the zahl-kellner, and that bag serves 
the double purpose of holding his small change and being a badge of 
office. Another badge is the memorandum pad and pencil which are 
used in footing up the accounts. Here he comes." 

As the Doctor spoke he rapped again and called out as before, and 
in a moment the pay- waiter was at his side. Doctor Bronson named 
over the articles they had obtained, the man footed them up with light- 
ning-like rapidity, and placed the slip of paper on the table, at the same 
time naming the amount. A florin note was tendered, change was 
quickly made, and the Doctor gathered up the coins before him with the 
exception of a few coppers, which were quickly swept into a leathern 
bag with a " Dank yer, saer " (Thank you, sir). The next moment the 
zahl-Jcellner was at another table, where he went through a similar per- 
formance and with the same celerity. 

"How does he know that you told him correctly as to what we 
owed ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. " He just took your word for it as you 
named over the things we ordered, and he didn't ask the waiter or any 
one else whether you might be cheating." 

" That has always been a puzzle to me," the Doctor answered. " The 
zahl-'kellner goes rapidly from table to table, takes on trust the state- 
ments of customers, and never, so far as I have heard, makes any ques- 



HONESTY IN THE AUSTRIAN CAPITOL. 



489 




tion as to their correctness. Very 
often when a settlement is made 
the waiters are not present, and 
I have never seen them called to 
verify or correct a customer's ac- 
count. I have come to the con- 
clusion that the people of Vienna 
are more honest than those of 
other cities, or they would not 
be trusted as they are. If such 
a system were adopted in the 
restaurants of London or New 
York I'm afraid there would be 
a great deal of — well, we will 
call it forgetfulness, though I 
had a shorter word in mind." 

The rest of the party agreed 
with the more experienced Doc- 
tor, who narrated another illustration of the honesty of the Viennese. 

"When I was here in 1873, I used to go often to the Blumensaale, 



CAFE CONCERT, VIENNA. 



490 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the Meue Welt, and other gardens and halls where there was music in 
the evening. They are immense establishments, where many hundreds 
of people can be entertained at once. The restaurants and beer-halls 
are very large, people sit at the tables or stroll among the trees, and 
sometimes there may be three or four thousand of them congregated 
together. When two or three persons were sitting at a table and wished 
to stroll for a little while and then return to their places, they would 
leave a cigar-case, a pocket-knife, or something of the sort on the table, 
and then walk away in the most trusting confidence that the article 
would remain there till their return, and their right to the table would 
be respected by everybody in the place." 

" I wouldn't like to try the experiment in any public resort in or 
around New York," said Fred, " unless I had something in my pocket 
that I wished to be rid of forever." 

" Nor I," echoed Frank. Mrs. Bassett and Mary agreed with the 
youths, and so did the Doctor. Then Mrs. Bassett asked how it hap- 
pened that the waiter was not there at the time of the settlement of 
their bill in order to receive his gratuity. 

" That is all included in the gratuity I gave the zahl-'keUner" said 
the Doctor, "though sometimes a small fee is given to the waiter in 
addition. The zahl -Tcellner pays the waiters for their services, and 
gets his own compensation in addition out of the gratuities he receives 
from customers, and sometimes he pays a premium for his situation. 
The proprietor of the restaurant gets the services of all his waiters 
for nothing so far as his own pocket is concerned, and quite likely 
he receives one or two thousand dollars a year as premium for the 
zahl -Tcellner' s place. All comes from the pockets of the patrons of 
the establishment, in the shape of the gratuities that accompany the 
payment of each bill." 

Mrs. Bassett wondered why the dry-goods stores, the boot and shoe 
stores, and all other shops and stores of every name and kind did not 
adopt the plan of restaurants and beer-halls, and require their patrons to 
pay the wages of their salesmen in the manner described. She ad- 
dressed her conundrum to Doctor Bronson, who instantly said he would 
prefer something not so difficult to answer. Up to our last dates from 
the travelling party he had not solved the problem, and until he does so 
we cannot enlighten the reader concerning it. 

On the following morning the party breakfasted together as usual, 
and then went out for a walk to St. Stephen's Church and its neighbor- 
hood. They entered the church and admired its noble proportions, and 



SHOPPING ON THE GRABEN. 



491 



it did not take long for them to understand why the people of Vienna 
are so warmly attached to this venerable edifice. 

From the church they went to the Graben, which is a short and 
broad street, and also a busy one. It is the favorite shopping-place, and 
even at the early hour when our friends went there it was filled with 
people. Frank explained to his mother that in the twelfth century the 
Graben was the moat of the fortifications of Vienna, and the houses on 
the northern side occupied the site of the ancient wall. " Some of the 
buildings are hundreds of years old," said he ; " but they are disappear- 
ing year by year, to make way for newer and more spacious ones. By 
the end of the century there will be very few of the old structures 
remaining, if new buildings rise at their present rate." 

" Probably they will keep the monument and fountains in the mid- 
dle of the street," said Mrs. Bassett, " as they can't very well put any 
houses where they are. What is that curious structure that looks like a 
lot of clouds with figures among them ?" 

" That is the Trinity Column," was the reply ; " and it was built 
about two hundred years ago, in commemoration of the cessation of the 




RAJDETZKY BRIDGE AND FRANZ JOSEF BARRACKS. 



plague. Those fountains on either side of the Trinity Column are of 
much later date than the central monument, and the figures upon them 
belong to the present century. Down to and during the eighteenth 
century the Graben was the market-place of Vienna, and in the early 



492 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

hours of every day it was crowded with sellers of eggs, poultry, milk, 
vegetables, meat, and other articles of food ; but as soon as it became 
fashionable the markets were sent elsewhere." 

The walk through the Graben was a very slow one, as the eyes of 
Mrs. Bassett and her daughter were constantly drawn towards the win- 
dows of the shops, where many attractions were displayed. Mrs. Bas- 
sett asked what were the specialties of Vienna in the way of goods. 
Mary promptly answered that Russia-leather was the leading one, the 
others being carpets, jewelry, silver and other plate, and meerschaum ; 
whereupon Mrs. Bassett said she would look for Russia - leather, as it 
was something of which she was specially fond. 

Had she postponed the question for half an hour she would have 
had no need to ask it, as the number of the shops for the sale of Rus- 
sia-leather, and the abundance, variety, and beauty of the goods would 
have told her in unmistakable terms. Yienna has virtually a monopoly 
of the trade in this article, as its goods have a higher reputation than 
any other, and for a long time they were the only goods of Russia-leath- 
er that reached the market at all. Frank made inquiries on the sub- 
ject, and wrote the following note : 

" Austria exports annually leather goods to the value of sixteen 
million florins ($8,000,000). Nearly all the leather is tanned in the 
dominions of the Czar, and is, therefore, ' real ' Russian — at least, that is 
what the dealers tell you. I have heard that a considerable part of it 
is made in other countries, the secret of the tanning having been ob- 
tained, as many other secrets are often obtained in Russia, by the pay- 
ment of money to those who possess it. 

" The variety of things they make out of this leather is almost end- 
less, and the sight of the goods in the shops is bewildering. I expect 
that mamma and Mary will make extensive purchases, and our friends at 
home may look for a good many presents in Russia-leather about next 
Christmas." 



A WALK THROUGH THE KOHLMARKT. 



493 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

IN THE KOHLMARKT.— HOFBURG.— AMALIENHOF.— RITTERSAAL.— THE IMPERIAL 
LIBRARY, AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.— THE TREASURY.— THE FLORENTINE 
DIAMOND AND ITS HISTORY. — CHARLEMAGNE'S IMPERIAL REGALIA. — THE 
GOLDEN FLEECE.— BURG THEATRE.— TERRIBLE DISASTER AT THE RING THEA- 
TRE.— A DRIVE TO THE PRATER.— IN THE GREAT PARK OF VIENNA.— ANTIQ- 
UITY OF THE PRATER ; ITS HISTORY FOR 800 YEARS.— HAUPT-ALLEE AND NO- 
BEL-PRATER.— AN ARISTOCRATIC RESORT.— CONSTANTINE HILL.— A VIEW OF 
THE EMPEROR.— CHAT ABOUT THE IMPERIAL FAMILY.— THE WURSTEL-PRATER. 
—POPULAR AMUSEMENTS.— VOTIVE CHURCH.— THE EMPRESS. 

FROM the Graben our friends walked through the Kohlmarkt, an- 
other fashionable and busy street, and, like the Graben, lined with 
shops from one end to the other. Frank had selected this route, partly 




THE IMPERIAL MUSEUMS. 



in order to gratify the desires of his mother and sister to see the shop- 
ping facilities of Yienna, and partly because it led in the direction of 
the Hofburg, or imperial palace, which all wanted to see. 

" They call it Kohlmarkt," said Mrs. Bassett, " and I suppose that 



494 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

means l coal market.' But I haven't seen a sign of any place for selling 
coal since we started on our walk." 

"Coal is not sold here now," was the reply, "nor has it been for 
centuries. In the thirteenth century it was called Holzmarkt (wood 
market), and was actually the place where wood was sold. A hundred 
years later the name was changed to the present one, and for a time 
it indicated the business conducted here, but that ended long ago." 

Following the Kohlmarkt our friends came to the Hof burg, or im- 
perial palace, which is at first somewhat disappointing to the stranger, 
who has become accustomed to the magnificent buildings along the 
Eingstrasse, and looks for something that will fairly bewilder him 
when he reaches the abode of the imperial family. This was the case 
with Mrs. Bassett and Mary. Frank explained that the imperial palace 
was not a modern structure, like most of the buildings they had seen, 
but an irregular pile belonging to several different epochs. 

" It is large enough, certainly," said Mrs. Bassett ; " and perhaps it 
is all the more picturesque with its irregularity. How old is the oldest 
part of the palace ? It must be very ancient." 

"I cannot say exactly," replied Frank, "but according to history 
the Austrian princes have made this their home since the thirteenth 
century. Perhaps there is no part of the structure that dates from the 
beginning of their residence here, but there is a goodly portion that can 
boast of an age of not less than two or three hundred years. 

" For example, there is the Amalienhof, or Amalien Palace, which 
is now occupied by the Empress, and contains some of the imperial of- 
fices. It was built near the end of the seventeenth century, though it 
was begun in the sixteenth. The four sides of the great palace belong 
to different periods and almost to as many centuries, the one to the 
east dating from the early part of the fourteenth century, or possibly 
the end of the thirteenth." 

"What volumes of history must be associated with this palace!" 
Mary exclaimed, as she stood before the home of the Hapsburgs and 
carried her eyes slowly from the base to the top of the building. 

"Yes," said Frank; "the whole history of the Empire of Austria 
may be said to have its centre here. Shut your eyes and think of 
Maria Theresa receiving the homage of the Austrian princes in the old 
Pesiclenz, or of Josef II. granting audience to all comers in the Con- 
trolor corridor. There is the magnificent Pittersaal, where a long line 
of kings and emperors has walked and stood. There are the windows 
which were shattered by revolutionists during the stormy times of 1848, 



THE HOME OF THE HAPSBURGS. 



495 



and the square where we are standing has seen many a military assem- 
blage, and witnessed many a royal or imperial departure for scenes of 
war. No wonder the Hapsburgs are proud of their lineage, as it is the 
oldest imperial family of Europe, and there is less in its history that 




ELIZABETH BRIDGE AND KARNTHNERSTRASSE. 



any one of them might wish to forget than in that of most of the im- 
perial and royal families of the world." 

After looking at the statues which adorn the square in front of the 
palace, and studying the exterior of the buildings, our friends proceeded 
to the inspection of such of them as were open to the public. They 
made a brief visit to the Imperial Library, but it is safe to say they did 
not specially look at all of the 300,000 volumes and 20,000 manuscripts 
that the library contains. They paused in front of the case which is 
said to contain a Psalter which was printed in 1457 by Schaffer and 
Faust, and a copy of the very oldest edition of the Biblia Pauperum, 
printed in 1430. Mary wished she could be allowed to carry away a 
few leaves of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, which were in the author's 
own writing, and Mrs. Bassett expressed a similar desire relative to the 



496 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

prayer-book of Charles Y. Fred was enthusiastic over the collection of 
engravings and wood-cuts, which comprises 300,000 specimens, from the 
earliest to the latest, and all of them interesting. 

Then they saw the natural history and mineral collections, which 
are in the same building ; and thus Frank shrewdly led the way to the 
Treasur}^ which is the most interesting of all the imperial collections of 
Yienna. Here is what Mary said about it : 

" I cannot begin to tell a quarter — no, not the hundredth or the thou- 
sandth part of what we saw there, and if I did I should tell altogether 
too much for your patience. When we entered we found ourselves in a 
hall with long walls, and on these walls were the robes of the heralds 
for I don't know how many reigns of the imperial house. The embroid- 
ery on some of these robes was wonderful, and mamma lingered over 
them with many expressions of admiration. You know she is very 
proud of what she can do with her needle, and she says that embroidery 
always interests her very much, as she is constantly learning new stitches, 
which she will try when she gets home. 

" While mamma was looking at the heralds' robes I strolled a little 
farther on, and came to something you couldn't guess in a dozen guesses. 
It was a case containing the keys of the coffins of the ancestors of the 
imperial family. Frank suggested that they didn't appear to be used 
often, and I shouldn't suppose they would be. 

" We were all curious to see the Austrian crown jewels, which are 
kept here and are of enormous value — exactly how much they are worth 
I couldn't begin to figure out. Among the imperial gems is the cel- 
ebrated Florentine diamond, which has a curious history. It belonged 

to Charles the Bold, and was in his possession 

^g^^. when he was killed on the battle-field of 

jjm jpNjJK^ Nancy. It was picked up by a peasant, who 

,n^3S^ ^^^^ ^^^. s °ld ^ for a florin to a travelling merchant 

^s 2fc j L2|LjBj§r |y from Berne. The merchant sold it for con- 

^^^^ES^Kfi^^fc siderable profit, and after a long series of ad- 

-" ' ventures, which I haven't time to tell, the 

the Florentine diamond. stone came into the possession of the Austrian 

Government. It weighs 133 carats, and is 
said to be worth $100,000, though I doubt if the Government would sell 
it for twice that figure if any one should offer it. 

" We saw the Emperor's crown, sceptre, and imperial globe — all of 
them set with precious stones very attractive to ordinary eyes. I ob- 
served that there was a crowd of people around the cases where the 



THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 497 

jewels were displayed — in fact, the imperial jewels seemed to be the prin- 
cipal attraction of the place. There is a fine collection of the decorations 
of different orders, the most dazzling of all being that of the Golden 
Fleece, which is composed of 150 diamonds, with a stone weighing forty- 
two carats in the centre. Frank declares himself to be a genuine 
American. He has no particular leaning towards foreign orders and 
decorations, but he confesses that he would like to have this particular 
decoration of the order of the Golden Fleece, just for the sake of the 
diamonds in it and the gold in which they are set. 

" Then Frank asked if I could tell anything about the Golden Fleece, 
and the origin of the order of that name. 

" I replied that I could. And here is what I told him : 

" The ancient Greeks had a tradition that there was in a distant 
country a golden fleece, which was guarded by a sleepless dragon. The 
King of Greece commissioned his nephew, Jason, to go in search of 
that fleece and bring it home. Jason caused the Argo to be built and 
manned by fifty of the bravest men he could find, and Avhen all was 
ready they sailed away. From the name of their ship they were called 
' the Argonauts.' Some people think that the Argo was the first ship 
built, and the Argonauts were the first sailors. The adventures of the 
Argonauts have been told by Homer, and other poets and historians. 

" Frank said my story was historically correct thus far, but he wanted 
to know what it had to do with the decoration that we were looking at. 

" I told him that the order of knighthood bearing the name of the 
Golden Fleece was founded by Philip III., Duke of Burgundy and the 
Netherlands, at Bruges, on January 10, 1429, on the occasion of his 
marriage with Isabella, daughter of King John I. of Portugal. The order 
was established in the interest of the Catholic Church, and the fleece 
was adopted as its emblem, partly on account of its heroic history and 
partly because wool was such a large part of the material of manufact- 
ure in the Netherlands. When the order was established the founder 
named himself grand - master, and he limited the number of knights 
to twenty-four, but after his death it was increased. The order has 
descended from its founder to the present reigning Houses of Spain and 
Austria. The King of Spain and the Emperor of Austria are the only 
sovereigns who can confer the title, and they cannot confer it upon a 
Protestant without obtaining the consent of the Pope. 

" Frank said that would do for the Golden Fleece, and he was ready 
to look at something else, although he again cast a longing eye at the 
splendid and very costly decoration that I mentioned. 

32 



4:98 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 




THE "ARGO.'' 

" We saw the baptismal robes of all the imperial infants for a long 
time, and with them the baptismal vessels, which can only be used for 
imperial babies. Then came the state swords used at coronations, the 
coronation robes, and the silver-gilt cradle of the King of Rome. It is 
a cradle of no ordinary kind, as it is said to weigh 500 pounds ; but 
mamma said the royal child would have slept just as well in a cradle 
such as you could buy at any well- stocked house-furnishing store for a 
dollar or two, and perhaps a great deal better. 

" We saw something that carried us away back into history. It was 
a collection of memorials of the Holy Roman Empire, which were once 
kept at Aix-la-Chapelle and afterwards at Nuremberg. There was the 
crown of Charlemagne, with his sceptre and imperial robes, and there 
were the swords of Charlemagne and St. Mauritius, and several other 
antique relics that I can't remember. I was also very much interested 



THEATRES OF VIENNA. 



499 



when I saw the sword of Haroun-al-Easchid, the great Moslem warrior, 
who flourished more than a thousand years ago. Frank said he had 
many doubts as to the genuineness of the relic, but it is just as well to 
accept the tradition ; and certainly the sword may have belonged to the 
great defender of the faith of Islam, and been wielded in the battles 
that he fought." 

This ended Mary's account of the visit to the imperial treasury, and 
of some of the things that they saw there. 

" The description of the Hofburg would be incomplete," said Fred, 
" if the Burg Theatre should be left out. But there is a possibility of 
confusion, since there are two theatres of that name — the old and the 
new. The old one is in the palace, and is very small. The new theatre 
is a large and handsome building, and for the future visitor will be the 
Burg Theatre of the Austrian capital. It is built of white stone from 
the foundations upward, and is adorned with statuary relating to dra- 
matic art. There are busts of Shakespeare, Calcleron, Moliere, Schiller, 
Goethe, Lessing, and others whose names are famous ; and also those of 
the Austrian dramatic poets, Debbel, Grillparzer, and Halm. Then there 




HOFBDRG THEATRE. 



are busts, pictures, medallions, and the like, of famous characters in 
tragedy and comedy ; and it is evident to the most casual observer that 
the plans for the theatre were made with the greatest care, and by men 
of the highest architectural intelligence." 



500 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" I thought the Burg Theatre was burned," said Mrs. Bassett, " and 
many lives were lost. Was that so ?" 

" It was the Ring Theatre, not the Burg," said Frank. " It was 
burned in December, 1881, with a loss of 580 lives — one of the most 
terrible accidents that ever took place in a theatre." 

" Have they built a new one in place of it ?" 

" No," was the reply. " Every stone of the building was removed, 
and on its site there is an edifice that was built by the Emperor from 
his private funds, and endowed from the same source. It is dedicated 
to charitable purposes, and contains many apartments, which are rented 
to families and individuals. The revenue from these rentals is devoted 
to the charities named by the Emperor ; they include, among other 
things, pensions for the immediate dependants of some of those who 
perished in the fire when the theatre was destroyed." 

Our friends had been for some time on their feet, and were naturally 
a little weary ; accordingly, Frank suggested that a drive would be in 
order, and a carriage was speedily engaged. As Mrs. Bassett settled 
into her place on the cushions she intimated that she would like to see 
the Prater. She had heard that it was one of the finest parks in the 
world, and felt sure that a drive through it would be delightful. 

" It certainly ought to be a fine park," said Mary, " if what I have 
read of it is true." 

" What was that ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" That it has been a park for eight hundred years," was the reply. 
" I wonder if that is really so ? Eight hundred years for one park ! It 
seems impossible to believe the story." 

" You are right and wrong at the same time," said Frank, in response 
to his sister's interrogation. " The Prater has been the property of the 
imperial family and their predecessors since the eleventh century, and 
they used it for their court festivals, fireworks, promenades, and hunt- 
ing-parties. It was a park, but not a public one, as it was entirely closed 
to all but the imperial family and their friends, and such persons as had 
special permission from the chief falconer to go there. In the months 
of May and June the nobles and distinguished strangers were allowed 
to drive through the Prater, but this permission was refused to any 
common mortal, with very rare exceptions." 

" How long did this period of exclusion last ?" queried Mary. 

" For seven hundred years," replied Frank, " or down to 17T6, the 
year of the declaration of independence in America The Emperor 
Josef II., as Prince-regent, abolished all the old privileges, and officially 



THE PRATER. 



501 



announced that from that time the public should have free entrance 
to the Prater at any hour of the day, and they might send up balloons, 
play skittles, or amuse themselves in certain other ways which were 
prescribed. It was also announced that the landlords of inns and coffee- 
houses might sell wine, beer, and coffee there, together with such other 
things as were usually sold in taverns and restaurants. One part of the 
Prater was very soon devoted to shows of various kinds, and they are 
still kept up there in what is known as the Wurstel-Prater, which is the 
resort of the humbler classes of the population, especially on Sundays." 




VIENNESE FIACRE. 



Mrs. Bassett asked if it would be proper for them to go to the Wurs- 
tel-Prater, and look at the people and the shows that entertain them. 

" Certainly it will," replied Frank. " Everything is orderly enough 
there, and you will be reminded of Coney Island or other similar resorts 
in the vicinity of New York. The scene is interesting enough — at least, 
for a single visit, and perhaps for more." 

It was decided that the party would see the Wurstel-Prater, but they 



502 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

agreed that before doing so the more aristocratic portion of the park 
should be visited. This is known as the Nobel-Prater, and, like all the 
rest of the great resort, is prettily laid out. It is crossed by a magnifi- 
cent avenue of chestnut-trees, and on pleasant afternoons this avenue is 
filled with vehicles, which include everything, from the carriage of the 
Emperor or Empress down to the humble fiacre or cab, which any one 
who has the money to pay for it may hire. Frank directed their driver 
to take this avenue, the Haupt-Allee, and he called attention to the cir- 
cumstance that the Prater is so large that the Haupt-Allee is three miles 
long and as straight as a sunbeam. It begins at the Prater-Stern, where 
the park is entered from the city, and terminates on the banks of the 
Danube, on the other side of the grounds. 

As they rode along, Mrs. Bassett called attention to the great size 
of the trees in the Prater, and said she thought she had never before 
seen such a fine array of them in any public park that she had visited. 
" It seems more like a grand old forest than a park," she said, " and it 
is evident that they have taken great care of the trees during all the 
eight hundred years that you mentioned." 

"Yes," replied Frank, "and the Yiennese are justly proud of the 
trees that you see all around you. It has been remarked that there 
would be no more certain way to provoke a revolution than for the 
Government to announce that the trees in the Prater were to be cut 
down and the place converted into an open field." 

" It would certainly be sufficient cause for rebellion," said Mrs. Bas- 
sett, " as it would deprive the people of a delightful place of recreation. 
How many acres of ground are there in the Prater ?" 

" Four thousand two hundred and seventy acres," replied Frank. 

" Is there any other city park that equals it in size ?" 

" I believe not," the youth answered. " The Bois de Boulogne of 
Paris contains 2500 acres ; Central Park, !New York, 680 acres ; Pros- 
pect Park, Brooklyn, 550 acres; Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 2700 
acres ; and Hyde Park, London, 400 acres. There may be a larger city 
park than the Prater, but I don't recall one at present." 

Our friends went to the end of the great drive, and then returned 
to Constantine Hill, which is situated close to the Haupt-Allee and is a 
favorite resort of fashionable people. It is an artificial mound suggest- 
ive of the hill near the cascade in the Bois de Boulogne, and Mrs. 
Bassett remarked that the Yiennese had been very successful in their 
efforts at making something picturesque out of the level ground of the 
park. The carriage stopped in front of one of the restaurants near the 



A FASHIONABLE PROMENADE. 



503 




PROMENADE IN THE PRATER. 



hill, and our friends secured seats where they could study the people of 
the Austrian capital in their favorite resort of an afternoon. They had 
an excellent view of the great drive-way with its rows of chestnut-trees, 
and Mary said that it was as good as going to the theatre, or looking 
through a kaleidoscope, to watch the endless procession of carriages, 
pedestrians, and equestrians that passed before their eyes. 

Presently there was a commotion at the approach of a carriage 
which seemed to attract more attention than all the others. Men 
paused in their footsteps and lifted their hats, and of course our friends 
turned their eyes in the direction where everybody else was looking, 



504 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" That is the Emperor ; I know him by his portrait," said Mary. 
Sure enough, it was His Majesty, the ruler of the Austro- Hungarian 
monarchy, taking his customary drive in the Prater, where his subjects 
could see and salute him. He was in military uniform, and as he passed 
the place where our friends were standing (they had risen from their 
seats as soon as it was known that he was coming), his hand was at the 
side of his cap in acknowledgment of the salutations of the people. A 
moment later the hand fell, only to rise again a short distance farther on. 

From the beginning to the end of a drive in public the Emperor is 
kept busy in acknowledging the demonstrations of respect with which 
he is always greeted, and the same is the case with other members of 
the imperial family whenever they take an outing in the Prater or along 
the Bingstrasse, as they do very often. 

Mrs. Bassett thought that such constant exercise of his right arm 
and hand must be very wearying to His Majesty, and the others agreed 
with her. Frank said it was one of the penalties connected with exalted 
position everywhere : the higher one's station in life, the more exacting 
are its duties ; and those who imagine that an emperor has nothing to 
do but study his own pleasure are very wide of the mark. 

" I am told," said Frank, " that the Emperor is one of the hardest 
worked men in the Austro -Hungarian Government. He rises early, 
takes a cup of coffee and a Vienna roll, walks for half an hour in the 
garden if the weather is fine, and is then ready for business. The fore- 
noon is devoted to interviews with his ministers, foreign representatives, 
and others, to the consideration of matters of state, and to any other 
business that may be brought up. Then comes the substantial break- 
fast, or what we would call luncheon, and, after it, any public ceremo- 
nies which are on the imperial programme ; then there may be more 
receptions, and, after them, a drive in the Prater or elsewhere. Then 
comes dinner, and after dinner the opera, the theatre, or some other 
amusement, with possibly an hour or more devoted to thinking over 
important questions that are to be considered on the following clay. 
Bedtime comes none too early, and the wonder is that the Kaiser has 
been able to get through everything set down for the twenty-four hours 
of the day without breaking down long ago. But he has been Emperor 
for more than forty years (since 1848), and is in good health yet." 

" I wonder if he gets time to read the newspapers ?" said Mrs. Bas- 
sett, interrogatively, as Frank paused. 

" Not all of them," replied Frank ; " in fact, he reads very few, and 
the one that he reads most is specially prepared for him." 



AN IMPERIAL NEWSPAPER. 



505 



filillllllllll^ 
■■■^ 




FRANCIS JOSEPH II., EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. 

"How is that?" 

" One of the officials connected with the household is charged with 
the duty of condensing the news, editorials, and other matter in the 
principal papers of the empire and elsewhere, exactly as the editor of 
any newspaper prepares the news for its readers. The official knows 
the kind of intelligence and editorial comment that the Emperor desires, 



506 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

and he performs his work accordingly. The ' copy ' that he prepares is 
put in type in the imperial printing-office, and a single sheet is struck 
off and sent at once to His Majesty. He generally reads it on his re- 
turn from his walk in the garden, and before beginning the receptions 
of his ministers and others. In this way he keeps the run of the events 
of the time, the drift of popular feeling, the politics of all countries, and 
especially of the events, politics, and popular drift in the Austro-Hun- 
garian monarchy from one end to the other." 

" That is certainly an excellent arrangement," said Mrs. Bassett, as 
Frank paused. " But it is only an emperor who can have a paper pre- 
pared and printed for himself alone." 

" It is an expensive luxury," was the reply ; " but something of the 
same kind is don,e by all royal or imperial people, and also by many 
people who are not emperors, kings, or even princes with thrones in 
prospect. Every crowned head of Europe or other country has the 
news prepared by a confidential secretary or other official, though I be- 
lieve no other has a paper specially printed for his own use ; some- 
times it is prepared in the form of scraps pasted on sheets of white 
paper ; sometimes important passages in the papers are marked, so that 
the eyes for whom they are intended do not have to look for what is 
wanted ; sometimes the secretary reads the news aloud to His or Her 
Majesty, selecting what he deems desirable, and naming the headlines 
only of matter about which he has any doubt. Many a busy man of 
affairs in Europe and America has some one to read the papers and 
select what he knows his employer wants, the rest being discarded. 
And many a man in ordinary every -day life asks his wife, son, or 
daughter to 'read the paper' to him, and thus save him the trouble. 
He indicates that he wants the shipping news, railway accidents, mar- 
riage notices, movements in politics, or information on any other special 
topic, and the reader gives him what he wants and nothing more. So 
you see the Emperor Francis Joseph, is like the rest of the world, 
after all, when you come to reflect." 

Mrs. Bassett acknowledged the correctness of the assertion, and said 
it was something she had never thought of. 

When their visit to the aristocratic part of the Prater was ended, 
the party went on the proposed inspection of the Wurstel- Prater. 
They found it quite as interesting as the Nobel- Prater, though of 
course in a different way, and Mary remarked that it was vastly more 
amusing. Children were romping among the trees or along the walks, 
girls in swings were shouting and screaming with much merriment, 



POPULAR SIGHTS AND SHOWS. 



507 



and there was a lively whirl of merry-go-rounds that reminded Fred of 
Coney Island and other popular resorts in his own land. Several par- 
ties were dancing in the open air, and the common workaday people of 
Yienna were strolling along the walks, lying on the grass beneath the 
trees, or sipping beer or other beverages at the places where those arti- 
cles were sold. There was a whole street of shows, which included 
trained fleas, lion -tamers, snake-charmers, acrobats, bearded women, 
living skeletons, jugglers, monkey -theatres, and other things. Mary 
thought it would be capital fun to visit all the shows in the Wurstel- 
Prater, but Frank suggested that it would consume too much of their 
time, and, after all, the displays would be very much the same as kin- 
dred entertainments elsewhere. 




SHOWS IN THE WURSTEL-PRATER. 



508 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" Frank called our attention to the Volkstheatre in the Prater," said 
Mary, " and told us that it was specially devoted to plays in the Vienna 
dialect, and suited to the tastes of the people who frequent this part of 
the park. There are cafe -concerts in other parts of the Prater which 




THE VIENNA STOCK -EXCHANGE. 



are more fashionable in their character, but none where the audience 
enjoys itself more thoroughly than do the audiences of the Yolks- 
theatre and the concert-halls in its vicinity. The result of my observa- 
tion is that the Prater is admirably arranged for the recreation of all 
the people, high and low, rich and poor, prince and peasant. I like the 
great park very much indeed, and hope we will have a chance to see it 
again before we continue our journey." 

On the way back to the city our friends took the route over the 
Aspern Bridge, and then along Franz Josef Quay to the Schotten 
Ping. As they passed the Stock -exchange, Frank remarked that it 
was the scene of the great crash of 1873, when thousands of speculat- 
ors and other people were ruined. 

" Ruined!" exclaimed Mrs. Bassett ; " I should suppose it would have 
killed them. But they have built it up since, and it looks like a very 
solid house that ought not to fall again." 




THE VOTIVE CHURCH. 



510 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

Frank explained that it was not the fall of the Stock -exchange 
building to which he referred, but a financial crash or panic, which oc- 
curred in the year mentioned. There had been, he further said, a vast 
amount of speculation or over -trading, and the crash came like the 
famous "Black Friday" of New York in 1869, or the still greater panic 
in Wall Street in 1873, six months after the Ttrak at Vienna. 

At the upper end of the Schotten King attention was called to the 
Yotive Church, which stands in a large open space called the Maximil- 
ianplatz. Mary asked if the ground was named for the emperor whose 
tomb — or, rather, whose monument — they saw at Innsbruck. 

" No," was the reply ; " it was named for the Maximilian who was 
shot in Mexico in 1866, after a brief career as emperor of that country." 

" I remember," said Mary ; " he was the brother of the Emperor of 
Austria, and renounced all his rights to the throne of this country when 
he went to Mexico. And I believe he started the movement for build- 
ing the church which we are looking at, did he not ?" 

" Yes," said Frank ; " the Yotive Church was built to commemorate 
the escape of the Emperor Francis Joseph from the attempt of an as- 
sassin to take his life near this very spot." 

" It is certainly a very handsome church," said Mrs. Bassett, as they 
contemplated the fagade and portals with the slender spires that rose 
very high in the air. Mary said the sculpture made her think of a 
piece of lace- work, and Frank remarked that it had been compared to 
lace wrought in stone. The position of the church on a terraced foun- 
dation adds greatly to the artistic effect of the building as one looks at 
it from any point on the Kingstrasse. 

While our friends were looking at the Yotive Church the carriage 
of the Empress passed them, and they had a glimpse of the lady who 
is, by her exalted position, the first of the land. They had just time to 
observe that her face was pleasing, and that she smiled graciously, bow- 
ing slightly to right and left at the homage that was shown her by the 
people. Frank told his companions that the Empress has a great popu- 
larity with the Yiennese, and whenever she appears in public their affec- 
tion for her is decorously but emphatically demonstrated. 

" I have heard that she is a very daring horseback-rider," said Mary, 
" and is fond of mounting steeds that most people are afraid of. Is that 
really the case ? I would certainly like to know." 

" Yes," was the reply ; " and she usually succeeds in conquering any 
horse, however obstinate he may be when he first comes to her. hand. 
She takes great delight in the English sport of 'riding to hounds,' and 



THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. 



511 



it has been said that she enjoys the saddle quite as much as she does 
the throne, and sits on it as easily." 

"And the Emperor is a good horseman, I've heard," added Mar}^. 

" One of the best," said Frank, " and he is justly proud of his horse- 
manship. He is also a famous hunter of the chamois, and spends two 
or three weeks of every autumn hunting that animal in Styria. He 
gets up at three or four in the morning, dresses like the other hunters, 
climbs the mountains like them and with them ; he carries his own 
alpenstock and rifle, and is an excellent shot, as he has proved on many 
an occasion. He has a fine collection of heads of chamois which he has 
killed — in fact, it is said that few 
other amateur hunters have col- 
lections to surpass that of Fran- 
cis Joseph." i 

" Is there anything else for 
which he is remarkable ?" queried 
Mrs. Bassett, in a tone which in- 
dicated her belief that the end of 
the list had been reached. 

" He is one of the best lin- 
guists of the day, as you have 
already heard," said Frank. " He 
can speak English, French, Ital- 
ian, and Spanish, in addition to 
his native German and the other 
languages and dialects of his em- 
pire. A considerable part of his 
popularity with the Hungarians 
arises from his ability to address 
them in their own tongue, which 
he can do with ease, and it is 
said of him that when he has 
once learned a word in a foreign 
language he never forgets- it or 
its meaning. Altogether he is a 
remarkable man, and refutes most 
emphatically the idea that the 
life of an emperor is one of indo- 
lence." 




TYPE OF VIENNOISE. 



512 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE IMPERIAL OPERA-HOUSE, VIENNA ; EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF THE BUILD- 
ING; THE AUDIENCE AND THE PERFORMANCE; STATUARY AND DECORATIONS; 
MADAME MATERNA; RULES OF THE MANAGEMENT; FEMININE ORCHESTRAS; 
MRS. BASSETT'S VIEWS CONCERNING THEM.— THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA.— 
" THE LINES."— SIEGE OF VIENNA BY THE TURKS.— SCRAPS OF HISTORY.— EX- 
TENSION OF MODERN VIENNA.— A BAKER'S DISCOVERY— THE KAHLENBERG.— 
FROM VIENNA TO BUDA-PESTH BY RIVER.— PRESBURG AND KOMORN.— BUDA- 
PESTH.— THE TWIN CITIES, AND HOW THEY WERE UNITED.— ROYAL PALACE, 
AND OTHER BUILDINGS. — HOT SPRINGS AND BATHS.— MARGARET ISLAND — 
THE OPERA— HUNGARIAN DISHES, DANCES, AND NOBILITY.— THE END. 




T 



A LADY ORCHESTKA. 



HE evening fol- 
lowing the in- 
cidents just narrated 
happened to be " op- 
era-night," and Mrs. 
Bassett intimated 
that she would like 
to see the interior of 
the famous opera- 
house of Yienna. 

Through the aid 
of the manager of 
the hotel a box was 
secured for the even- 
ing, and at the prop- 
er time the party was 
seated in it. It was too 
far to one side to afford a 
good view of the stage, but 
Frank said they must consider 
themselves fortunate to secure a 
box at all at such a late hour. As 
their object was to study the au- 



INTERIOR OF THE GRAND OPER1-HOUSE. 



513 




THE IMPKIUAL OPERA-HOUSE. 



dience quite as much as the performance, nobody lost any time in 
grieving over the location of the box they occupied. 

They were shown to their box by an attendant, whose livery was so 
gorgeous that Mrs. Bassett said in a whisper directed to Mary's ear 
that he must belong to the imperial family. Mary intimated that if so 
the family must be very large indeed, as she observed that the patrons 
of the lower part of the house were waited upon by attendants in simi- 
lar uniform, and they were not few in number. 

"When they were out of hearing of the attendant and comfortably 
seated in the box, Frank explained to his mother and sister that the 
opera was a Government institution, as in most of the countries of Eu- 
rope, and received a large annual subsidy from the imperial treasury. 
The rules concerning its management are very strict, and every detail 
is watched with the greatest care. 

" I have heard," said Mary, " that any man or woman who has sung 
in the Imperial Opera-house in Vienna has no difficulty in finding an 
engagement anywhere else. I suppose that is owing to the high stand- 
ard which is set by the management." 

33 



514 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

" Yes," was the reply ; " and the rule will apply to any one of the 
chorus girls just as much as to the great singers whose names are fa- 
mous in the musical world. ~No chorus girl is admitted to sing unless 
she can reach a certain standard of musical work, and the rule is thor- 
oughly understood by every musician in Vienna. And just in propor- 
tion that the management demands a certain musical ability of the 
humblest girl in the chorus, it is more and more exacting as it goes 
higher in the list. It has been said — " 

Frank's sentence was cut short by the entrance of some of the 
members of the imperial family to the place which is specially re- 
served for the Hapsburgs. All eyes were turned in the direction of 
the imperial loge, in the expectation of seeing the Emperor or the 
Empress ; but the visitors proved to be some of the less distinguished 
members of the galaxy, the great ones not honoring the opera-house 
with their presence on that particular evening. 

Mrs. Bassett remarked that there was much less noise in the audi- 
ence than in that of the Grand Opera-house at Paris, that the people 
entered with as little confusion as they would enter a church, and their 
conversation was almost in whispers. Throughout the whole evening 
our friends remarked this peculiarity of the Yiennese audience, which 
excelled in its demeanor that of the audience at the Grand Opera-house 
in Paris, and also that of New York. There was less loud conversation 
in the boxes, and much less to interfere with the rendition of the music 
by the company, or its enjoyment by those who came to listen, than in 
the boxes of the Metropolitan Opera-house, which is the pride of Man- 
hattan Island and the home of fashionable opera. 

Mary was deputed to give an account of their visit to the opera, and 
here is what she wrote concerning it : 

" To begin with, the building is one of the finest opera-houses in 
Europe. I should call it second only to the Grand Opera-house at 
Paris, but wouldn't say so in presence of a resident of Vienna, as the 
Yiennese generally regard theirs as the finest in the world. Certainly 
they have reason to be proud of it, as it is a magnificent edifice. It 
cost six million florins ($3,000,000), and that amount of money repre- 
sents a great deal more in Yienna than in New York, where wages 
are very much higher, and everything else is in proportion. 

"The opera-house has a splendid facade on the Ringstrasse, and in 
this facade there is an open balcony, which is a very agreeable resort 
between the acts of the performance on warm nights in summer. As 
for the statuary and other ornaments of the exterior, I won't try to de- 



CAPACITY OF THE OPERA-HOUSE. 



515 



scribe them, but will refer you to the photograph which accompanies 
my very imperfect story. The house will seat 3000 people, and the 
stage is said to be one of the finest and best arranged on the Conti- 
nent. They have taken great precautions against fire since the disas- 




^■111:;:%;! 

ELIZABETH, EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA. 



516 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

ter at the Ring Theatre. There is an iron curtain between the audi- 
ence and the stage, and this is let down two or three times in the 
intervals between the acts, so as to make sure that it is all right. In 
case of fire this curtain can be dropped instantly ; and they have an 
arrangement by which water is pumped to reservoirs under the roof, 
and will flood the house at very short notice. 

" There is a melancholy bit of history in connection with the build- 
ing of the opera-house. It was begun in 1860 and finished in 1868, 
and was the work of two architects, Sicardsburg and Yandernull. One 
of them committed suicide in consequence of the sinking of a part of 
the foundation of the edifice, and the other died of grief over the severe 
and unjust criticisms of some of the newspapers of Vienna. 

" The interior of the building from the very entrance is like a great 
picture-gallery, or, rather, a gallery of painting and sculpture. In the 
wide vestibule there is an array of statuary and some beautiful fres- 
cos ; and there are statues, bass-reliefs, paintings, and frescos along the 
grand staircase. The foyer contains busts of celebrated composers, and 
is richly ornamented with scenes from the leading operas. There are 
gorgeous frescos here and out in the balcony which I mentioned, and 
when you get into the auditorium you find paintings and frescos till 
the eye is fairly bewildered. Though everything is bright with color, 
there seems to be no lack of harmony. Mamma said the decorations 
of the house matched the uniforms of the archdukes and princes in the 
imperial box, and she thought those exalted personages were a part of 
the show just as much as the performance on the stage. 

" It was a ' Wagner night ' when we went to the opera, and we had 
the good-fortune to see and hear the famous Madame Materna in her 
favorite character of Brunhilde. The critics say she is great in every- 
thing, but greatest of all when she appears in this character. Of 
course we are unable to make the same comparisons, but she is certainly 
one of the finest singers we ever heard, and we enjoyed the evening 
very much indeed from first to last. 

" Mamma said Materna reminded her of Madame Parepa, I can't 
say anything for myself on that point, as I never saw Parepa ; but I 
have been told that she was a large woman, and certainly no one 
would consider Materna s figure a slender one. She is said to weigh 
two hundred pounds ; but she is certainly very graceful in all her move- 
ments, and I could not realize that she is of more than ordinary size 
and stature. She is evidently very popular with the opera -goers of 
Vienna, as they received her with warm applause when she made her 



A "LADY ORCHESTRA." 517 

first appearance during the evening, and the same applause was given 
at the end of every solo which came from her lips." 

"While our ears are attuned to music Ave will mention that on the 
evening following the one devoted to grand opera, our friends went to 




MADAME FRIEDRICH MATERNA. 



see and hear one of the specialties of Vienna : an orchestra of feminine 
performers. The " lady orchestra," as it is generally called in England 
and the United States whenever it has appeared there, consists entire- 
ly of women, the leader included. Sometimes they are dressed all in 

83* 



518 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

white, sometimes in red, and sometimes in blue or other color ; but at 
no time in a public appearance is each one allowed to exercise her own 
taste, and dress as she pleases. Mrs. Bassett and Mary were of the 
opinion that the performance of the " lady orchestra " to which they 
listened was very good but nothing remarkable, and their opinions 
were echoed by Frank and Fred. Mrs. Bassett thought the idea an 
excellent one and deserving of encouragement. " It is," said she, " an- 
other opening for the employment of women in occupations that have 
generally been monopolized by men, and there is no reason why they 
should be debarred from it." The rest of the party fully agreed with 
her, and there was a prompt declaration from Frank and Fred that, so 
far as they were concerned, they would prefer a feminine orchestra to a 
masculine one, even if there should be a uniformity of dress and now 
and then a little weakness in the music. 

One day while the travellers were making their sight-seeing rounds 
Mrs. Bassett asked about the University of Vienna, and said she would 
like to see it if it was permitted to do so. 

" We shall pass the building in a few minutes," replied Frank ; "and 
it is a very fine building, as you will have an opportunity to know." 

" It is one of the leading universities of the world, is it not ?" Mrs. 
Bassett asked, as Frank paused. 

"It certainly has that reputation," was the reply, "and from all I 
can learn it deserves it. Students come here from all parts of the Aus- 
tro-Hungarian monarchy, and also from all parts of the world ; but of 
course the greater number are natives of the empire." 

" Do any students come here from the United States ?" 

" Yes, you will find quite a number of American students here at 
any time ; but they are nearly all in the medical department, for the 
reason that the medical teaching of the University of Vienna is of the 
very highest class. Physicians and surgeons whose fame is world wide 
are among the members of the faculty, and the course of instruction is 
very thorough. Doctor Bronson was telling me only this morning that 
the medical men of Vienna — all the famous ones, at least — are specialists ; 
that is, they devote themselves to one single branch of treatment, and 
do not consider anything else. One doctor treats diseases of the scalp ; 
another, diseases of the lungs and throat ; another, nervous diseases ; and 
so on through the list. All the great medical men of Vienna being 
specialists, it naturally follows that the medical faculty of the univer- 
sity ranks very high, as each of the professors is an expert in his own 
department, and an expert of the highest order." 



A FAMOUS UNIVERSITY. 



519 



" "What besides medicine do they study at the university ?" was the 
very natural query which followed this statement. 

" Everything that is taught in any university," was the reply. " Law, 
chemistry, astronomy, philosophy, theology, and I don't know what 
else. For theological studies one must go to the priests' branch in the 
city, and the study is confined to the Roman Catholic religion. You 
must remember that this Government is a Catholic one ; and as the uni- 
versity is a Government institution, it naturally adheres to the official 
faith of the country." 

By this time they had reached the university building, and the 
whole party observed its extensive proportions. Mary remarked that 
she supposed all that immense space was required for the lecture and 
examination rooms, and the rooms for collections of various kinds. 

" Yes," said Frank, " and there is also a library of 500,000 volumes 
and a reading-room of 400 seats, all lighted up by electric lights. There 
are certainly very few universities in the world where so much effort 
has been made to furnish good accommodations for the students. The 
fees for instruction are moderate, and for those who want to, or must, 
live cheaply the Josefstadt Quarter of Yienna affords the same kind 
of low-priced accommodation as does the Latin Quarter of Paris." 




THE NEW UNIVERSITY. 



5"20 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

We neglected to mention that the party was riding, not walking, 
when the university was mentioned. After seeing that interesting 
building our friends continued their drive, and, in answer to Mrs. Bas- 
sett's query, Frank said they were going beyond " The Lines." She 
asked what lines he meant, and he explained that the city was encircled 
by a rampart and ditch about the year 1704, to prevent attacks by the 
Hungarians. These fortifications are known as " The Lines," and the 
name is also applied to the gates that pass through them.* 

" These were not the fortifications when the Turks besieged Vienna, 
were they ?" Mary asked, as they passed the wall and ditch which have 
just been mentioned under the name of " The Lines." 

" Not by any means," replied Frank. " The Turks besieged Vienna 
in 1529 and 1683, and the walls were not built — these lines, I mean — 
until more than twenty years after the second siege. Vienna then con- 
sisted of the city inside the old walls, which were recently torn down 
to make room for the present Eingstrasse." 

" Did the Turks get possession of the city at either of those attacks ?" 
Mary asked, addressing her brother. 

" No ; they were defeated in both attempts. The first siege lasted 
about three weeks, and the second a day or two less than two months. 
In the second siege (1683) they came near succeeding, and would have 
done so had it not been for John Sobieski, King of Poland, who came 
to their relief with an army composed of Poles, Austrians, Saxons, and 
Bavarians. He attacked the Turks, and defeated them just when the 
city was so near the point of starvation that it was about to surrender." 

* Since our friends were at Vienna the demolition of "The Lines" has begun, and 
before long all the walls of 1704 will have disappeared. On December 20, 1891, Vienna 
completed a long-contemplated plan of annexation. Down to that date its area was fifty- 
five square kilometres, and on the following day it was 178 kilometres. The addition 
to the population was about 400,000, making a total, altogether, of 1,300,000 inhabitants. 
There were ten districts in the old city, and there were in the annexed district forty-nine 
suburban communes. Some of these communes were large and prosperous towns, and 
others were pleasure resorts. They included the Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg, and the 
towns of Hernals, Doebling, Ottakring, Hietzing, Dornbach, and Hetzendorf . The measure 
of annexation originated with the Emperor, and he carried it through, although it was ear- 
nestly opposed by the people in the suburbs. The present area of Vienna is three times 
that of Berlin, twice that of Paris, and about half that of London. The suburbs opposed 
the annexation because they will now have to pay octroi duties on certain articles on 
which they were not previously taxed. The old octroi gates were at "The Lines," but 
on the day of annexation they were transferred to the boundaries of the suburbs. For- 
merly fifty-four articles of consumption were taxed at the gates. For the future the tax 
will be collected on only nine articles, of which the principal are meat, beer, and wine. 



WHAT A BAKER DISCOVERED. 



521 




THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE. 



" That should have made Austria very friendly to Poland — at least, 
I think so," Mrs. Bassett remarked. 

"Perhaps," was the reply; "but it did not prevent Austria joiniug 
in the dismemberment of Poland in 1773. Maria Theresa was then on 
the throne, and she, along with Frederick the Great, accepted the pro- 
posal of Catherine II. of Russia to send an army for the conquest of the 
country, which they divided among themselves." 

" It has been said that republics are ungrateful," commented Mary ; 
"but republics are not the only Governments with short memories. It 
is a slander on republics to imply that they are the only countries which 
practise ingratitude," she added, with emphasis. 

Fred then told an incident of the siege of Yienna about which he 
had read. It seems that one Sunday, when everything was unusually 
still, a baker who had an oven near the fortifications was busy with his 
work, when he heard a strange sound in the ground beneath him. He 
thought of witches, or a subterranean river, and in great alarm he ran 
out and told the officer commanding the nearest part of the line of de- 
fence. The officer laughed at the baker and told him to go back to 
his bread, and the man obeyed at once. 

But still he heard that strange sound, and he went again to the offi- 
cer. This time the matter was taken under serious consideration, and a 
subordinate was sent with the baker to make an investigation. It re- 
sulted in the discovery that the Turks were mining under the fortifica- 
tions ; and they were so far advanced that they would have sprung the 



522 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

mine that very night, and probably would have taken the city by sur- 
prise. Needless to say, their enterprise was a failure, and only a few 
days afterwards the besiegers were driven away by the armies that 
came to the relief of Yienna. 

Our friends had a pleasant drive outside The Lines and through the 
suburbs in that locality. The next day they paid a visit to the Kahlen- 
berg, a wooded mountain near the city and on the banks of the Dan- 
ube, whose valley can be seen from the heights for a long distance. 
They went to the mountain by steamboat, or rather to the foot of 
it, and returned to the city, when their visit was ended, by the same 
means, preferring the boat to the railway. 

" In going to the Kahlenberg," said Fred, " we had a reminder of 
the Rigi, as the mountain is ascended by a cog-wheel railway similar to 
that which goes up the famous mountain of Switzerland. This railway 
is about three miles long, and the journey is made in thirty minutes, 
the grade not being as steep as that on the Rigi. 

" We enjoyed the view from the balcony of the hotel on the summit 
very much indeed. It included the city, which lay below us like a map, 
and the country around for a considerable distance. We could see the 
spurs of the Carpathian Mountains on the frontier of Moravia and Hun- 
gary. The southern horizon was filled with the Styrian Alps, and we 
sat there for some time making comparisons between the view from the 
Kahlenberg and that from Berne as one looks towards the Bernese 
Oberland and the mountains that fill the horizon. 

" If we had not been told that the Kahlenberg was a favorite resort 
of the people of Yienna, we should have known it both on our way 
there and while on the summit. The steep side of the mountain is 
towards the river; on the other side it slopes gently and is covered 
with forest, so that there is plenty of space for restaurants and similar 
resorts where the people go to enjoy themselves. The crowd was much 
like that we saw in the Wurstel-Prater ; there were men, women, and 
children enjoying themselves in ways that showed they did not have an 
excursion to the Kahlenberg every day, and were determined to make 
the most of it when they had the opportunity. 

" The tradition is that Mozart composed a portion of the ' Zauber- 
flote ' on the Kahlenberg, and certainly the site is one where he ought 
to have found inspiration for his work. A church was pointed out to 
us which is said to have been founded in 1683 as a memorial, by the 
Emperor Leopold I., that the German and Polish troops who relieved 
the city when the Turks were besieging it came from the direction of 



DOWN THE DANUBE. 



523 



this mountain, their camps having been established there previous to 
the attack upon the position of the Moslems." 

Several days were passed in Yienna very pleasantly, and then the 
travellers prepared to go elsewhere on their journey. 

" Shall we go by river or railway ?" queried Frank, when the subject 
of leaving Vienna was brought up for serious consideration. 

" Go where ?" Mrs. Bassett asked. 

" Why, to Buda-Pesth," was the reply. " You suggested one day, 
mamma," said Frank, " that it would not be fair to see one capital of 







THE KAHLENBERG. 



524 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

the Austro-Hungarian monarchy without seeing the other, and so I have 
planned to go to the other one as soon as we are through with this." 

" Thank you very much ; it is just what I wanted to do, and I'm 
ready for either mode of conveyance you think best." 

" It takes twelve or thirteen hours to go to Buda-Pesth by river and 
only six hours by rail. The river route is the most interesting, and I 
think it fully compensates for the additional time. The boats are com- 
fortable, and much larger than the one by which we came from Linz." 

Needless to say, it was settled that they would go by river. On the 
evening before their departure all retired very early, in view of the fact 
that the boat was to start at 6.30 a.m., and it was necessary to rise not 
later than five o'clock. All baggage was packed beforehand, and there 
was nothing to do in the morning but settle the bill, distribute fees to 
the attendants of the hotel, take a light breakfast, and hurry away to 
the steamboat-landing just below the Aspern Bridge. 

On arrival at the landing Mrs. Bassett was greatly disappointed, as 
she found herself and companions on a small steamboat which was piled 
high with baggage and crowded to discomfort with passengers. She 
mentioned her disappointment to Frank, and suggested that they had 
better abandon the idea of going to their destination by boat, go to the 
railway station, and take the first train that offered. 

But she changed her view when Frank explained that the small boat 
was to take them out of the Donau Canal to the main river, where they 
would find the large boat waiting for them. In a few minutes they 
were loose from the quay and gliding swiftly down the canal ; within 
half an hour all were on board the large boat and moving down the 
Danube in the direction of Buda-Pesth. 

The spires of Vienna disappeared from sight, and so did the dome of 
the great Exhibition building of 1873, which has been preserved as a 
memorial of that event in the history of the city. The boat sped along 
through a flat and well-tilled country, and in two hours it was in front 
of Presburg, the ancient capital of Hungary, and where many of its 
kings were crowned, with a great deal of ceremony. 

" Our first view of Presburg," said Fred, " was not of the city, but 
of the ruins of the old castle or palace, which was burned in 1811. It 
must have been an extensive building, to judge by its appearance from 
the river ; and when it was occupied by the Hungarian kings the city 
was probably less sleepy in appearance than it is to-day. The boat did 
not remain more than a minute at the landing, and so our acquaintance 
with the place was very slight. 



MARIA THERESA AND THE HUNGARIANS. 



525 



" Mary watched the palace as long as it was in sight," continued 
Fred, " and recalled an interesting incident in the history of Maria 
Theresa. She was crowned Queen of Hungary at Presburg in 1741. 
Not long afterwards she was threatened by the Elector of Bavaria and 
his French allies, and determined to call the Hungarians to her aid. She 




BUDAPKST. — [View from left bank of the Danube.] 



hastened to Presburg, where she had summoned the Hungarian nobles 
to meet her. In the great hall of the palace she stood, surrounded by 
her infant children, and said to the deputies, ' I am assailed by enemies 
on every side ; I have no hope except in your loyalty, and I have come 
to place under your protection the daughter and son of your king.' 

"The Hungarian nobles drew their swords, and said, ' Moriamur 
pro rege nostro, Maria Theresia P (We will die for our king, Maria The- 
resa !). The Hungarian army came to her aid, and the Bavarians and 
French were driven away with great loss. 

"At one of the landings a band of Hungarian gypsies came on board, 
and, with an eye to business, began playing various airs on their musical 
instruments, and occasionally passing a hat for contributions. The 
music which most interested our friends was that from the guitar and 
zither, especially the former. One of the gypsies performed very well 
on the zither, but Mrs. Bassett and Mary both thought they heard bet- 
ter zither music in the Tyrol than on the steamboat on the Danube. 



526 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



" We had a good view of the Fortress of Komorn, which was built 
four hundred years ago, and has been greatly strengthened in modern 
times. It has undergone several sieges, but is very peaceful now, and 
allowed us to pass without firing a single gun at the steamboat. The 
great cathedral of Gran was another object of interest, but did not 
attract so much attention as the city of Buda-Pesth, which came into 
view just as the day was turning into night." 

It was dusk and something more by the time the travellers reached 
the land, and consequently there was not much to be seen until next 
day. Before they retired for the night, Mrs. Bassett said she thought 
she would sleep more soundly than otherwise if some one would tell her 
why the city was called by two names instead of one. Buda-Pesth was 
a mystery to her, and she wanted to have it solved. 

" Buda-Pesth comes from the union of Buda and Pesth," said Frank. 
" The side of the Danube where we now are, the left, was formerly the 
city of Pesth, while the city on the right bank was Buda, also called Ofen. 




GYPSY VIOLINISTS. 



Both are ancient cities, having been founded by the Romans, and they 
were independent of each other until 1873, when they were united into 
one municipality. When the cities were united the names were joined 
together as you now see them. The Hungarians write it ' Budapest,' 



THE CHICAGO OF EASTERN EUROPE.'' 



527 



and so do the Germans, 
and in course of time this 
form of spelling will be 
adopted into French and 
English." 

"Thank you very much," 
said Mrs. Bassett. "I'm 
sure I'll sleep well now. 
Good-night !" 

It was "good-night" all 
around, as it had been de- 
termined to make an early 
start for sight-seeing the 
next day. 

" We had heard Buda- 
pest (to use the Hungarian 
spelling) called ' The Chica- 
go of Eastern Europe,' and 
had been told much about 
its wonderful prosperity," 
said Fred, in the account 
which he was delegated to 
write of their visit to the 
capital of Hungary. " But 
we found, on investigation, 
that the half had not been 
told us. So far as we have 

seen there is not another city of Europe that has made half as much 
progress in the past thirty years as the one we are now visiting. The 
population has increased greatly, but not in proportion to the commerce. 
Many old houses have been torn down to make way for new ones, and 
great numbers of buildings have been erected where before there was 
only barren ground. Handsome quays have been built, miles in length, 
on both banks of the river, the hotels are not to be surpassed in any 
other city of Europe, and altogether Buda-Pesth reminds the visitor of 
Chicago more than does any other city on this side of the Atlantic. 

" The greatest progress is visible on the Pesth side of the river, and 
there is to be found the greater part of the population of the twin city, 
which exceeds 300,000, and is increasing eve^ year. Two-thirds of the 
inhabitants are Catholics, 50,000 are Hebrews, and 30,000 are Protes- 




TTPE OF HONGROISE. 



528 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 



tants, and there is a small sprinkling of Moslems, the remnants or 
descendants of the Turkish rulers who once held the city in their con 
trol. Though the greater progress and population are here, the most 
interesting part of the city is on the Buda side of the Danube. 

" The old palace of the kings of Hungary is in Buda, and in the pal- 
ace the Hungarian Diet holds its sessions. We went through a part of 
the building, but did not have time to look at all of the two hundred 
apartments it contains. We saw the royal regalia of Hungary, the crown 
of St. Stephen, sceptre, sword, and coronation robes, and from the garden 
that surrounds the palace we had a fine view of Pesth and of the Dan- 
ube for a long distance up and down. The palace is on a high and steep 
hill, which we ascended by means of cars drawn up by cables. There is 
a winding road which leads to the top, but it is not as expeditious as 

the cable line proved to be. 

" The fortress on this hill is very 
old, and has been several times capt- 
ured in war. The Turks held it for 
nearly 150 years previous to 1686, 
when they were driven out ; and the 
fortress was the scene of some hard 
fighting in the revolution of 1849. 
The Hungarians destroyed a part of 
the fortress after they had captured 
it in that year, but it has been rebuilt 
since that time, and is now in good 
repair and stronger than ever. 

" The Buda side of the river is 
famous for its hot springs, and over 
some of these springs they have spa- 
cious bathing - houses, which are a 
favorite resort. Two of these bathing 
establishments were founded by the 
Turks, and one of them is in the same 
building where the Moslems placed 
it. We did not visit any of these 
baths, but we did visit the bathing 
V^u^ K^-^^. establishment on Margarethen-Insel, 

W\ ^m^**"' ^^ or Margaret Island, in the middle of 

the Danube, just above the city. 
" This island deserves a paragraph 




A HUNGARIAN MAGNATE. 



MARGARET ISLAND. 



529 



all to itself, and shall 
have it. It belongs 
to the Archduke Jo- 
seph, who has spent 
a great deal of money 
to convert it into one 
of the most delight- 
ful parks you ever 
saw. The position 
in the middle of the 
river is charming, the 
grounds are tasteful- 
ly laid out and care- 
fully kept, there is 
a tramway running 
the whole length of 
the island, and, in 
addition to the great 
bathing establish- 
ment, there are a 
kursaal, two hotels, 
a large restaurant 
and several smaller 
ones. Margaret Isl- 
and is to Buda-Pesth 
w r hat the Prater is 
to Vienna. People 
go there in con- 
siderable numbers 
during the day, and 
on pleasant evenings 
it is very much 
crowded with men 
and women, who have gone there for recreation, after the toil of the day. 

" We timed our visit so as to reach the island late in the afternoon, 
while the tide of travel was setting in that direction. After a visit to 
the bathing establishment we went to the restaurant for dinner and to 
listen to the music. We tried some of the native dishes, but cannot say 
that we are in love with them — at any rate, not greatly. 

"A favorite dish of Hungary is gulyas, or ' gollasch,' as it is generally 

34 




|^L— - 



PROMENADE ON MARGARET ISLAND. 



530 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

called by strangers. We ate some gulyas, and then called for something 
else. Perhaps you would like to know the composition of this article 
of food, which is so agreeable to the natives. 

" Well, it is a stew composed of onions, several kinds of meat, po- 
tatoes, little lumps of dough called nokerln, and red pepper. The pepper 
is grown in Hungary, and is very mild when compared with Cayenne, 
but they make up in quantity any lack in quality. They put so much 
pepper into their stew that it burns the tongue and lips of the unac- 
customed stranger, and a little of it will go a great way. 

" We had music from a German band, and also from some gypsies, 
who were very much like those we saw on the steamboat as we came 
from Yienna. Some funny stories are told of the tricks of the gypsies 
to induce listeners to pay liberally for their playing. The leader of the 
band will pick out some dignified and well-to-do citizen in the front of 
the audience, and address the music directly to him. He will stand im- 
mediately in front of the man, look into his eyes, and almost press the 
end of the violin in the listener's face. Then the music begins, slowly at 
first, and gradually working up to a sort of delirium. At the end of it 
the listener pulls out a bank-note which he moistens with his lips, and 
then sticks it on the gypsy's forehead. Sometimes when a band is 
playing to a company one of the listeners will tear a bank-note in two, 
put one -half into his pocket, and give the other half to the leader of 
the band, who can only have both halves of the bill when the musical 
desires of the audience are satisfied. 

" Speaking of music makes one think about dancing, and this is the 
place to remark that the Hungarians are fond of this amusement, and 
have several dances which are peculiarly national. We saw one of their 
dances, the czardas, which is danced by all classes of people, but more 
generally among the peasantry than by the nobility. It is a dance 
of couples, or rather of a single couple, and the essential points of 
the dance are that both must be in Hungarian costume and have a 
gypsy band. The dancers stand face to face with arms a-kimbo, and 
the music strikes up, very slowly at first, and gradually increasing. 
The dancers move their feet in time with the music, the young man 
approaches the girl, who skips away from him ; and this is repeated for 
some time in a teasing kind of way till at last she allows him to grasp 
her around the waist and swing her about in a circle. Then they take 
their places again, and the performance goes on very much as before, 
with the difference that the music steadily increases in rapidity, and 
with it the movements of the dancers. 



A POLYGLOT OPERA. 



531 



" The second evening of our stay in Buda-Pesth we went to the Na- 
tional Opera-house to listen to a performance in Hungarian. The 
opera was ' Mignon, ? and the rule that only the Hungarian language is 
to be used on the stage of the National Opera-house was so far 
stretched as to allow the character of Mignon to be presented in 
French, while the principal male part was in German. This made a 
curious mixture of languages that amused us very much, but it did not 
draw our attention from the music, which was well given throughout. 
Of course we don't understand Hungarian, and therefore could make 
nothing of the dialogue, and for this reason we are not likely to spend 
an evening at any of the theatres when only that language is used. 

" In one of the boxes of the opera-house was a Hungarian nobleman 
in his national dress, and the box was situated so that we had a full 




DANCING THE ' CZARDAS. 



532 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 

view of him. On St. Stephen's day the noblemen come out in their an- 
cient garments, which include tight-fitting trousers tucked into cavalry 
boots, richly embroidered coats, and fur-trimmed dolmans. Their heads 
are covered with round hats without brims, and in the top of each hat 
is a stiff plume, often decorated with precious stones. If the man has a 
mustache, and he generally has, and often a large and fierce one, it is 
waxed and twisted so that the ends stand out either horizontally or 
with an upward inclination. The Hungarians are fine horsemen, and it 
is a pity Ave do not see them riding through the streets in their national 
dress, which seems to be entirely replaced on ordinary days by the coats 
and other garments which have their origin in London or Paris." 

"Which way shall we go from here?" said Frank, interrupting 
Fred just as he finished the foregoing paragraph. 

" I don't know, I'm sure. Suppose we consult the ladies, and find 
out what they would like to do." 

" Yery well," said Frank ; " they are in the parlor. Come along, 
and we'll talk the matter over." 



THE END. 



INTERESTING BOOKS FOR BOYS. 



HAEPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE : Bound Volumes for 1884 and 1887. Profusely Illus- 
trated. Illuminated Cloth, $3 50 each. Volume XIII. (for 1892) ready about No- 
vember 20th. The other volumes are out of stock. 

THE "BOY TEAVELLEES" SEEIES. By Thomas W. Knox. Copiously illustrated. 
Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $3 00 per volume. Volumes sold separately. 



Adventures of Two Youths — 

In Central Europe. 

In Northern Europe. 

In Great Britain and Ireland. 

In Mexico. 

In Australasia. 

On the Congo. 



In the Russian Empire. 
In South America. 
In Central Africa. 
In Egypt and Palestine. 
In Ceylon and India. 
In Siam and Java. 



In Japan and China. 

HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. By Thomas W. Knox. Two Vol- 
umes. Copiously Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2 50 each. The vol- 
umes sold separately. Each volume complete iu itself. 
The Young Nimrods in North America. | The Young Nimrods Around the World. 

BY CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN. Eight Volumes. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, Orna- 
mental, $3 00 each. Volumes sold separately. 

The Story of Libkrty. — Old Times in the Colonies. — The Boys of "76 (A History of the 
Battles of the Revolution). — Building the Nation. — Drum-beat of the Nation. — Marching 
to Victory. — Redeeming the Republic. — Freedom Triumphant. (The last four volumes form 
a History of the War of the Rebellion. 

Nearly Ready : Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

CITY BOYS IN THE WOODS; or, A Trapping Venture in Maine. By Henry P. 
Wells. Profusely Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Oruameutal, $2 50. 

FLY-EODS AND FLY-TACKLE. Suggestions as to their Manufacture and Use. By 
Henry P. Wells. Illustrated. Square Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2 50. 

THE AMERICAN SALMON-FISHERMAN. By Henry P. Wells. Illustrated. Square 
Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. 

COUNTEY COUSINS. By Ernest Ingersoll. Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Or- 
namental, $2 50. 

FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. Glimpses of American Natural History. By Ernest 
Ingersoll. Illustrated. Square 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. 

CAMP LIFE IN THE WOODS, AND THE TRICKS OF TRAPPING AND TRAP 
MAKING. Written and Illustrated by W. Hamilton Gibson. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. 

THE STARTLING EXPLOITS OF DR. J. B. QUIES. From the French of Paul 
Cleiere. By Mrs. Cashel Hoey and Mr. John Lillie. Profusely Illustrated. 
Crown 8vo, Extra Cloth, $1 75. 



Interesting Books for Boys. 



HOWARD PYLE'S WORKS. 

Men of Iron. Illustrated by the Author. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2 00. 

A Modern Aladdin. An Extravaganza. Illustrated by the Author. Post 8vo, Cloth, 

Ornamental, $1 25. 
The Wonder Clock; or, Four-and-Twenty Marvellous Tales: being One for each Hour of 

the Day. 160 Drawings by the Author. Embellished with Verses by Katharine Ptle. 

Large 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $3 00. 
Pepper and Salt ; or, Seasoning for Young Folk. Profusely Illustrated by the Author. 

4to, Cloth, Illuminated, $2 00. 
The Rose of Paradise. A Story of Adventure. Illustrated by the Author. Post 8vo, 
Cloth, $1 25. 

"HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE" SERIES. Illustrated. Square 16ruo, Cloth, Orua- 
nieutal, $1 00 per volume. 

The Adventures of Jimmy Brown. Written by Himself, and Edited by W. L. Alden. — 
The Cruise of the Canoe Club. The Cruise of the " Ghost" The Moral Pirates. The 
New Robinson Crusoe. By W. L. Alden. — Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus- 
Mr. Stubbs's Brother: A Sequel to "Toby Tyler." Tim and Tip; or, The Adventures of 
a Boy and a Dog. Left Behind ; or, Ten Days a Newsboy. Raising the " Pearl." Silent 
Pete. By James Otis. — The Story of Music and Musicians. Jo's Opportunity. Rolf 
House. Mildred's Bargain, and Other Stories. Nan. The Colonel's Money. The 
Household of Glen Holly. By Lucy G. Lillie. — The Four Macnicols. By William 
Black. — The Lost City; or, The Boy Explorers in Central Asia. Into Unknown Seas. 
By David Ker. — The Talking Leaves. An Indian Story. Two Arrows : A Story of Red 
and White. The Red Mustang. By W. 0. Stoddard. — Who Was Paul Grayson ? By 
John Habberton, Author of " Helen's Babies." — Prince Lazybones, and Other Stories. By 
Mrs. W. J. Hays. — The Ice Queicn. By Ernest Ingersoll. — Wakulla: A Story of Ad- 
venture in Florida. The Flamingo Feather. Derrick Sterling. Chrystal, Jack & Co., 
and Delta Bixby. Dorymates. By C. K. Munroe. — Strange Stories from History. By 
George Cary Eggleston. — Uncle Peter's Trust. By George B. Perry. — Captain Polly. 
By Sophie Swett. 

"HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE" (NEW) SERIES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Or- 
namental, $1 25 per volume. 

A Boy's Town. Described for Harper's Young People by W. D. Howells. 

Campmates. By Kirk Munroe. 

Phil and the Baby, and False Witness. By Lucy C. Lillie. 

Flying-Hill Farm. By Sophie Swett. 

Diego Pinzon. By J. R. Coryell. 

Canoemates. By Kirk Munroe. 

Young Lucretia, and Other Stories. By Mary E. Wilkins. 

SAMUEL SMILES'S WORKS. 

Self-Help. — Character. — Thrift. — Duty. — Men of Invention and Industry. — Life and 
Labor ; or, Characteristics of Men of Industry, Culture, and Genius. 12mo, Cloth, $1 00 
each. Jasmin: Barber, Poet, Philanthropist. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25. 

Round the World. Including a Residence in Victoria, and a Journey by Rail across North 
America. By a Boy. Edited by Samuel Smiles. — Life of a Scotch Naturalist : Thomas 
Edward, 'Associate of the Linnsean Society. — Robert Dick, Baker of Thurso ; Geologist 
and Botanist. James Nasmyth, Engineer. An Autobiography. Edited by Samuel Smiles. 
Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50 each. 

The Lives of the Stephensons. Comprising, also, a History of the Invention and Intro- 
duction of the Railway Locomotive. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00. B 



Interesting Books for Boys. 



CAMPAIGNING WITH CROOK, and Stories of Army Life. By Captain Charles King, 
U.S.A. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 25. 

A WAR-TIME WOOING. By Captain Charles King, U.S.A. Illustrated by R. F. 
Zogbaum. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. 

BETWEEN THE LINES. A Story of the War. By Captain Charles King, U.S.A. 
Illustrated by Gilbert Gaul. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 25. 

FOLLOWING THE GUIDON. By Elizabeth B. Custer. Illustrated. Post 8vo, 
Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50. 

BOOTS AND SADDLES ; or, Life in Dakota with General Custer. By Mrs. Elizabeth 
B. Custer. With Portrait and Map. 12mo, Cloth, Extra, $1 50. 

FROM THE FORECASTLE TO THE CABIN. By Captain S. Samuels. Illustrated. 
12mo, Cloth, Extra, $1 50. 

MICROSCOPY FOR BEGINNERS ; or, Common Objects from the Ponds and Ditches. 
By Alfred Stokes, M.D. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. 

THE STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY, FOR BOYS. By Benson J. Los- 
sing, LL.D. Illustrated. 12mo, Half Leather, $1 75. 

THE BOYS BOOK OF BATTLE LYRICS. By Thomas Dunn English, LL.D. Illus- 
trated. Square 8vo, Illuminated Cloth, $2 00. 

THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. By Lucien Biart. With 117 
Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75. 

AN INVOLUNTARY VOYAGE. By Lucien Biart. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25. 

ILLUSTRATED HISTORIES. By Jacob and John S. C. Abbott. Illustrated with 
numerous Engravings. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00 per vol. The volumes may be obtained 
separately ; or the set complete, in six boxes, $32 00. 



CYRUS 'THE GREAT. 

DARIUS THE GREAT. 

XERXES. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 

ROMULUS. 

HANNIBAL. 

PYRRHUS. 

JULIUS CESAR 

CLEOPATRA. 

NERO. 

ALFRED THE GREAT. 

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 

RICHARD I. 

RICHARD II. 

RICHARD m. 

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 



QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
CHARLES I. 
CHARLES II. 
JOSEPHINE. 
MARY ANTOINETTE. 
MADAME ROLAND. 
HENRY IV. 

MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
PETER THE GREAT. 
GENGHIS KHAN. 
KING PHILIP. 
HERNANDO CORTEZ. 
JOSEPH BONAPARTE. 
QUEEN HORTENSE. 
LOUIS XIV. 
LOUIS PHILIPPE 



MARY AND MARTHA. The Mother and the Wife of George Washington. By Ben- 
son J. LOSSING, LL.D., Author of "Field-book of the Revolution," "Field-book of 
the War of 1812," "Cyclopaedia of United States History," etc. Illustrated by Fac- 
similes of Pen-and-ink Drawings by H. Rosa. 8vo, Ornamental Cloth, $2 50. 



Interesting Books for Boys. 



DIDDIE, DUMPS, AND TOT; or, Plantation Child Life. By Louise Clarke -Pyr. 
nelle. Illustrated. 16mo, Clotb, $1 00. 

FRANCONIA STORIES. By Jacob Abbott. Numerous Illustrations. Complete in 10 
vols., 16ino, Cloth, 75 cents each. The volumes may be obtained separately ; or the 
set complete, in neat case, $7 50. Also ten volumes in five (sold in sets only), $5 00. 



MALLEVILLE. 
MARY BELL. 
ELLEN LINN. 
WALLACE. 
BEECHNUT. 



STUYVESANT. 

AGNES. 

MARY ERSKINE. 

RODOLPHUS. 

CAROLINE. 



MARCO PAUL'S VOYAGES AND TRAVELS IN THE PURSUIT OF KNOWL- 
EDGE. By Jacob Abbott. Illustrated. Complete in 6 vols., 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. 
each. The volumes may be obtained separately; or the set complete, in neat case, 
$4 50. 



IN NEW YORK. 

ON THE ERIE CANAL. 

IN THE FORESTS OF MAINE. 



IN VERMONT. 

IN BOSTON. 

AT THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY. 



STORIES OF RAINBOW AND LUCKY. By Jacob Abbott. Illustrated. 5 vols., 
16mo, Cloth, 75 cents a volume. The volumes may be obtained separately ; or the 
set complete, in neat case, $3 75. 



HANDIE. 

RAINBOW'S JOURNEY. 



SELLING LUCKY. 
UP THE RIVER. 



THE THREE PINES. 

SCIENCE FOR THE YOUNG. By Jacob Abbott. Illustrated. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, 
$1 50 each. 



HEAT. 
LIGHT. 



WATER AND LAND. 
FORCE. 



AFRICAN ADVENTURE FOR THE YOUNG. By Paul B. Du Chaillu. Illustrated. 
12mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00 per volume. (Sold in sets only.) 



STORIES OF THE GORILLA COUNTRY. 
THE COUNTRY OF THE DWARFS. 



WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
MY APINGI KINGDOM. 



LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 

HOW TO GET STRONG, AND HOW TO STAY SO. By William Blaikie. 16mo, 

Cloth, $1 00. 

SOUND BODIES FOR OUR BOYS AND GIRLS. By William Blaikie. With 
many Illustrations. 16mo, Cloth, 40 cents. 

THE CHILDREN OF OLD PARK'S TAVERN. A Story of the South Shore. By 
Frances A. Humphrey. 16mo, Clotb, $1 00. 



Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 

' Haepek & Bkothees will send any of the above works by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United 
States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of the price. 



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